Calling husband ‘paaltu chuha’ valid ground for divorce: Chhattisgarh HC

Chhattisgarh HC

The Chhattisgarh High Court (HC) upheld a family court’s decision to dissolve a marriage, ruling that a wife calling her husband a “paaltu chuha” (pet rat) for obeying his parents amounted to mental cruelty.

Accordign to a report by The Times of India, a division bench of Justices Rajani Dubey and Amitendra Kishore Prasad on September 3 dismissed the wife's appeal against the 2019 family court order, noting evidence substantiated the husband's claims of cruelty and desertion.

The husband alleged his wife provoked him against his parents, insisted on separation, and became aggressive when he refused, adding she tried to inflict self-harm during pregnancy and called him a "pet rat" of his parents.

The husband submitted messages and family testimonies claiming she frequently disrespected elders and refused to adapt to joint family life. In court, the wife admitted to sending her husband a message that read, “Leave your parents and stay with me.”

The bench, as per the report, said in the Indian social context forcing a spouse to abandon parents amounts to mental cruelty. The court also held the wife's prolonged stay at her parental home except for a brief return in 2011, satisfied the legal threshold for desertion.

Rejecting her plea for restitution of conjugal rights, the court said her conduct undermined her case. While affirming the divorce, it directed the husband to pay Rs 5 lakh as permanent alimony, the report added.