UP family court orders woman to pay Rs 2,000 as maintenance to unemployed husband

A family court in Uttar Pradesh has ordered a woman, who was a retired government servant, to pay maintenance to her unemployed husband.

Kishori Lal, a resident of Khatauli village in UP's Muzaffarnagar district, about 500 kilometres from here, had been married to Munni Devi, who worked as a fourth class employee with the central government.

After spending 20 years together the couple, owing to some differences, started living separately. While Munni Devi settled in Kanpur, her workplace, Kishori Lal shifted to Khatauli.

Kishori Lal, who was unemployed, moved a petition before the family court in Muzaffarnagar in 2013 seeking maintenance from his wife on the ground that he had neither any work nor property to sustain himself.

The court directed Munni Devi to pay Rs 2,000 monthly maintenance to him from the money she got as pension.

Kishori Lal, however, is not happy with the court order. ''I should get one-third of the pension being received by my wife...how will I be able to survive with this meager amount,'' he said.

''I suffered a lot in the past seven years....when we were together I used to take care of the domestic work while my wife worked...I did not try to get job then,'' he added.