HC grants divorce, says husband viewed wife as cash cow

One-liner: The Delhi High Court has granted divorce to a couple on the ground of mental cruelty by the husband, observing that he viewed his wife as a "cash cow" and became interested in her only after she got a police job.

No emotional ties: A bench said the husband's materialistic attitude, without any emotional ties, would have caused mental agony and trauma to the wife, which is sufficient to constitute cruelty to her.

• The bench also observed that generally, it is the desire of every married woman to start a family, but, in the present case, the husband appeared to be not interested in nurturing the marriage but only interested in the wife's income

Order set aside: The court set aside a family court's order which rejected the wife's divorce plea and dissolved the marriage between the parties under the Hindu Marriage Act.

• She sought a divorce on the ground that the husband was unemployed, an alcoholic and used to physically abuse her and demand money
• The husband opposed the dissolution of marriage on the ground that he funded the woman's education because of which she secured the job

Court's observation: The court observed that since the wife was living with her parents till 2014, it was obvious that all her expenses for living and upbringing would have been borne by them and there was nothing to show the contrary.

Source: PTI