KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday said a husband’s repeated taunts that his wife does not meet his expectations and his act of comparing her with other women would certainly amount to mental cruelty. A woman could not be expected to put up with such behaviour, the court said while dissolving the marriage of a couple, who had filed for divorce 13 years ago, on the ground of cruelty. The husband had filed an appeal against the family court order that had granted divorce to the couple.
In her petition, the woman alleged that her husband did not find her physically attractive and that she was an object of aversion to him right from the time they got married in 2009. She alleged that her husband always felt – and told her too – that she fell short of his expectations of a wife as ‘she was not as cute as some other women he had met’. They stayed together for hardly a month after marriage.
Disposing of the husband’s plea, the court said it was difficult to provide a comprehensive definition of cruelty, as it changes as per the advancement of social concepts and standards of living. “Continuous ill-treatment, cessation of marital intercourse, a husband’s indifference and his assertion that the wife is unchaste, are all factors that would lead to mental or legal cruelty,” said the court.
It said in physical cruelty, there could be direct evidence, but not in the case of mental cruelty. “To constitute cruelty, the conduct complained of should be grave and weighty to conclude that a spouse could not be expected to live with the partner. Mental cruelty may consist of verbal abuse and insults by using filthy language, leading to constant disturbance of the other person’s peace,” said the court.