Selling a woman’s jewellery without her consent and using the returns from it for his own benefit by the husband amounts to cruelty to the woman, the family court recently ruled while allowing a divorce petition filed by a woman, who was married since 2002.

The court observed, “The object of marriage is for cohabitation, happiness, peace and progress. Trust, love, and affection are the founding pillars of matrimonial reliefs. The conduct of the parties speaks louder than words particularly in matrimonial relations. There has to be positive steps by both the parties to strengthen their relation.”

As per the petition filed by the woman, it was alleged that the husband’s conduct was the real cause for marital disharmony. The husband was greedy, he had a habit of consuming liquor. He was physically assaulting his wife, tired of the harassment the woman sought for divorce.

It was also alleged that the husband sold all her jewellery. He was a cruel man and was only interested in money and he even failed to take care for his wife and their 10-year-old child. Further, when the wife asked her husband why he had sold of the pair of earrings given to her by her mother. The husband assaulted her.

The court issued a notice to the husband but he did not respond to it, thus an ex-parte order was passed. The court noted that “The entire pleading and evidence shows a positive attitude of the woman towards the matrimonial relations. In spite of her efforts, there was no response from the respondent (husband).

Accordingly, the court allowed the divorce petition and directed that the custody of the child would remain with the woman.