Woman granted divorce over husband's abusive behaviour

The family court recently, while granting divorce to a woman, held that the husband's behaviour of abusing his wife and using defamatory language to address her in public amounts to cruelty. The court held that the fact the husband did not challenge the allegations levelled by his wife shows that he committed cruelty.

The 30-year-old woman had married the 44-year-old man in 2010. The businessman, who was divorced from his first wife, had left his entire business in the name of his son from his first marriage.

The woman's petition said that problems arose right at the start of the marriage. After marriage, when the two were honeymooning in Egypt, she said he created a fuss about her smoking with him despite knowing about her habit.

Further, when the two had gone to Odisha to attend a family function, he screamed at her and abused her again, she said, adding that he had started character-assassinating her. Finally, aggrieved by his behaviour, she filed for divorce.

The court, after going through her petition, asked the husband to file a reply, but he failed to turn up. It thus held that since the allegations went unchallenged, it was clear that the husband was cruel towards his wife, granting her divorce.