Suicide threats amount to cruelty, can be a divorce ground: HC

The High Court gave its observation while hearing an appeal filed by Varsha (name changed) against family court's ruling in favour of her husband Prakash (name changed), who sought divorce on the ground that his wife was temperamental, frequently fights with him, and threatens to commit suicide.

Both had been living separately for last seventeen years.
The family court in Pune granted divorce to Varsha and Prakash on the latter's application in 2002, against which Varsha had filed an appeal in the High Court.
In her statement before the family court, Varsha had admitted that she twice attempted suicide.

Holding the family court right in granting divorce to Prakash, the High Court held that "because the behaviour of the appellant by persistently threatening and attempting suicide would constitute mental cruelty in law".

A division bench of Justices S A Bobde and S J Kathawala said "a husband cannot be expected to continue living with the wife in such circumstances.

Varsha's lawyer argued that she was driven to suicide because of alleged ill-treatment meted out to her by her in-laws, but the Court pointed out that "the attempts to commit suicide continued even after the couple moved to a new place and began to live separately from the family of the husband."