Jaipur court grants divorce, cites wife’s social media conduct as ‘mental cruelty’

JAIPUR: A family court in Jaipur has granted divorce to a man and held that objectionable social media activity by his wife amounted to mental cruelty.

“The ruling highlights that social media conduct and online behaviour may be treated as relevant evidence in matrimonial disputes where it causes humiliation or emotional trauma to a spouse,” DS Shekhawat, counsel for the husband, told TOI about the April 17 order uploaded on Saturday.

The husband had also alleged abusive behaviour by the wife and pressure to separate from his parents, but the key issue was her social media conduct.

The court ruled that sharing objectionable photos on social media caused emotional distress and damaged the husband’s dignity and social reputation. “If a married woman gets objectionable photos clicked with another man and shares them on social media platforms, such conduct can cause humiliation and mental agony to the husband and would amount to mental cruelty,” the court said.

The Jaipur couple got married in 2015 according to Hindu rites. “The husband later approached the court under Section 13 of Hindu Marriage Act seeking dissolution of marriage, alleging continuous disputes soon after the wedding,” advocate Shekhawat said.

The man claimed his wife frequently quarrelled, used abusive language and posted objectionable content online, causing embarrassment to him and his family.

Examining witnesses’ statements, documentary evidence and the conduct of both parties over a decade, the court noted that the couple had long been living apart and repeated reconciliation attempts had failed.

Forcing the spouse to sever ties with his parents, publicly humiliating him through objectionable online posts, and maintaining hostile behaviour inflicted serious emotional distress, the court held, adding the marriage had broken down beyond repair. It allowed the husband’s plea and dissolved the marriage by granting him divorce under Hindu Marriage Act.
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