The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted a decree of divorce to a man whose wife was convicted of murdering their two children in 2010. The Division Bench of Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Harsh Bunger ruled that the wife’s conviction and imprisonment amounted to mental cruelty, making it unsafe for the husband to continue the marriage.
The Court noted that while murder conviction is not explicitly listed as a ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, it undeniably causes “mental pain, agony and apprehension in the mind of the other spouse that it would be harmful or injurious to live with the other.” The Bench cited the Delhi High Court ruling in Swati vs Arvind Mudgil, emphasizing that incarceration deprives the spouse of conjugal rights, food, shelter, and security.
The couple had married in 2003 and had a son and daughter. In 2010, the wife killed both children, and in July 2011, she was sentenced to life imprisonment. The husband later sought divorce, but his plea was dismissed by a family court in Sonepat in 2013. He then approached the High Court, leading to the present ruling.
The Court also highlighted the social humiliation suffered by the husband, stating:
“The appellant must have also borne the burden of humiliation in the society. The said cruelty would continue unless the relationship is severed, and therefore, it would be in the interest of justice to dissolve the marriage by decree of divorce so as to put an end to the misery/suffering of the appellant and enable him to live his own life.”
The wife, however, denied the charges and argued that she was falsely implicated. She also accused her husband of cruelty and alcohol addiction. Her appeal against the conviction is still pending before the High Court, and her sentence was suspended in 2019.
Despite these claims, the Bench concluded that the husband had suffered immense cruelty due to his wife’s conviction and long incarceration. The Court, therefore, allowed the appeal and dissolved the marriage.
