Willful denial of sexual relationship amounts to cruelty in marriage, says Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has upheld the divorce granted to a couple whose marital bond effectively endured for merely 35 days, primarily due to non-consummation and the wife’s opposition, highlighting that deliberate denial of a sexual relationship by a spouse constitutes cruelty, especially in newly-married couples.

In a bench presided by Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Kumar Bansal, the court emphasized that marriage without a sexual relationship poses significant challenges, asserting that disappointment in sexual relations can prove fatal to a marriage.

The court observed that the marriage under scrutiny had not been consummated due to the wife’s resistance, and her filing of a dowry harassment complaint without substantial evidence could also be considered a form of cruelty.

The bench remarked, “… not only did the marriage between the parties subsist for barely 35 days but failed completely on account of deprivation of conjugal rights and non-consummation of marriage.”

While the ground of desertion was not proven, the court concluded that the husband was entitled to a divorce based on cruelty.

“Making allegations of dowry harassment resulted in the registration of an FIR and the trial to follow can only be termed as an act of cruelty when the appellant has failed to prove even one incident of dowry demand,” noted the court.

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Referring to previous judgments illustrating acts that may amount to mental cruelty, the court emphasized the unilateral decision or refusal to engage in intercourse for a substantial period without valid physical incapacity or reason as a form of mental cruelty.

The evidence presented in this case supported the husband’s claim that the wife did not allow the consummation of the marriage.