Abusing in-laws a ground for divorce, says Supreme Court of India
Another reason to be kind to your in-laws — if the fact that they're your spouse's family isn't reason enough.
In April 2015, the Supreme Court of India granted divorce to an NRI husband who showed his wife had persistently ill-treated his family. She had refused to let his parents stay in their US home during a visit, once locked him and his sister out of the house while abusing them as belonging to a "prostitute family," barred her sister-in-law from entering, and lodged a police complaint against her husband.
Weighing the evidence — including abusive voicemails and emails she sent while in India — the bench held it was a clear case of mental cruelty entitling the husband to divorce.
"If a spouse abuses the other as being born from a prostitute, this cannot be termed as 'wear and tear' of family life," the bench said. "Summoning police on false or flimsy grounds cannot also be similarly viewed. Making it impossible for any close relatives to visit or reside in the matrimonial home would also indubitably result in cruelty to the spouse."
Based on reporting by the Times of India, April 2015.
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