‘Forcible sex’ in marriage ground for divorce, rules Punjab and Haryana High Court

“We find that the claim of the appellant has been wrongly rejected. The act of sodomy, forcible sexual intercourse and adoption of unnatural means which are forced upon the other spouse and result in unbearable pain to the extent that one is forced to stay away would certainly be a ground to seek separation or decree of divorce,” the division bench of Justices M M S Bedi and Hari Pal Verma said in the judgment passed on June 01.

Observing that a court has to be always cautious before accepting such allegations, the division bench said the marriage can be dissolved in case it is established by evidence and circumstances that one of the spouses has indulged in unnatural acts.

“It is not that in every case such allegations levelled would be deemed to be true. In the present case, there are allegations of demand of dowry, beating, commission of unnatural sex, creating such circumstances that the appellant was compelled to leave Bihar eight years back,” the judgment reads, adding the wife had been treated with cruelty of both physical and mental nature by her husband.

The woman, a postgraduate diploma holder in Computer Application, had married the Bihar resident in 2007 and had a male child after her wedding. A sum of four lakh rupees was spent on the marriage and dowry had also been allegedly paid. According to the woman’s plea, her family had been told that the man is an engineer in a private company but it later turned out to be a false claim.

Alleging that she was humiliated and harassed by the family members of her husband allegedly over insufficient dowry, the woman had told the court that her husband “committed forcible sexual acts against her wishes and moods” and “after taking liquor committed sodomy forcibly”.