Man gets three months in jail for extramarital affair in Vadodara

VADODARA: Evven having extra-marital affair amounts to mental harassment. A court of judicial magistrate first class in Vadodara has sentenced a man to three months of simple imprisonment for having an extra-marital affair. The court said that the affair caused mental harassment to the wife of the man.

Yogesh Patel and his two family members were booked under IPC section 498 (K) for harassing Patel's wife Ekta who had filed the complaint at Gorwa police station in 2017. The complainant said that Patel and his family members used to harass her and even beat her over domestic chores. Patel used to even threaten to divorce her.

The complainant further claimed that after their child was born, Patel got into an extra-marital affair with another woman. And he used to mentally and physically harass the complainant while his parents supported him. She said that Patel used to work in a garment showroom where he met the other woman.

She added that when she confronted her husband and asked him about his affair, he picked a fight with her. The complainant also said that she was pressured to divorce Patel.

Patel's lawyer argued in the court that he (Patel) was not involved in an affair with any other woman. After cross-examination of witnesses and evidence, the court accepted the complainant's case that Patel was having an extra-marital affair with a woman and it was responsible for their constant fights.

The court said that physical harassment of complainant was not proven during the trial but mentally harassing a woman was an offence. Patel was convicted under IPC 498 (K) for mentally harassing his wife by having an extra-marital affair. And his parents were acquitted of the charges.

The court added that punishment under IPC 498 has provision for three years of imprisonment but Patel has no previous criminal record and he has responsibility of his old parents. So he was sentenced to three months of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000.