If a woman repeatedly taunts her husband for not being up to the mark, it amounts to mental cruelty, the family court said while granting divorce to a man who was married for over 10 years.

The court said, “Whenever the petitioner (husband) returned from office tired and wanting to sleep, the respondent used to crave for physical relations and, on refusal, call petitioner chhakka (eunuch), unnecessarily making comments... The respondent (wife) had also taunted him, saying she wanted a better and smart husband from an affluent family. All this... amounts to mental cruelty to him.”

Petitioner’s advocate Paresh Desai said, “The court took into account that the husband had done his best to provide a good life to the wife but the woman’s nature caused a lot of harassment to the husband, who was left with no choice but to seek divorce.”

As per the husband’s petition, the couple married in 2003 and they have two children. It was alleged that the wife would pick fights with the husband and his mother and never took good care of the children. The court also took into account the instances where the wife threatened to commit suicide as mental cruelty to the husband.

Denying all the allegations, the wife moved an application seeking the restitution of conjugal rights. The family court attempted a reconciliation but it didn’t work out, forcing the court to hear and decide upon the petition.

The court also accepted video recordings of the couple’s arguments. The bench said, “Though she was aware the arguments were being recorded, she used the most abusive and insulting words against her husband. She also threatened him for creating a scene and destroying her life...”