The Gujarat High Court has upheld a family court’s divorce decree observing that cruelty is not a defined concept in a case of a teacher forcing a 12 year younger student to marry him.
A division bench, comprising Justices N.V Anjaria and Sandeep Bhatt, was hearing a petition filed by a 40-year-old teacher who had challenged the Amreli family court’s divorce order.
While upholding the family court order, the bench observed, “Cruelty is not a defined concept. Whether cruelty is acted upon or not depends upon facts and circumstances. It is only the facts and circumstances of the particular case, which helped to determine whether cruelty was proved or not as legal grounds to grant the decree of divorce. A student forced to marry a teacher, both having large gaps in terms of age and prospects, and post-marriage treatment meted out to the plaintiff in the present case makes out to prove that the plaintiff’s wife was subjected to cruelty.”
The court pointed out, “The case was specific by the prescription and pregnancy sonography report produced by the respondent (wife) support and stand to fortify the case of the wife that she was pregnant and abortion was forced on her as many as three times. She was required to undergo an abortion against her wish. At one point the wife has driven away and deserted as she did not succumb to demand. “
