Point of Law : Divorce - where there has been a long period of continuous separation, it may fairly be concluded that the matrimonial bond is beyond repair.

JUDGMENT :

Sophy Thomas, J.

“I take you to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's Holy law, in the presence of God, I make this vow.”

In a Christian marriage which is a holy sacrament, the couple enters into a matrimonial covenant by taking this beautiful and meaningful wedding vow, on the fervent hope that it is a partnership of love and life for the whole of their life till death separates them. But, sometimes their beautiful dreams, hopes and aspirations stumble in bitter realities of life, and incompatibilities compel them to part their ways, even when the wedding vow taken by them in the name of God, stares at them.

2. Here is a case where the appellant and respondent, a Christian couple, got married as per the Christian rites and ceremonies taking the wedding vow on 23.10.1988. Both of them are well educated and they hail from respectable and educated families. In their wedlock, two girl children were born. The husband, who is an Engineer cum Yoga Trainer filed O.P.No.1339 of 2009, before the Family Court, Ernakulam to dissolve their marriage under Section 10 of the Divorce Act, alleging cruelties, both mental and physical, and desertion, from the part of the wife, who is a Post Graduate.

3. The husband was alleging that, from the very inception of marriage, the wife was showing behavioural disorders. She was intolerable even on minor domestic problems and she was abusive and assaultive in nature. She did not give proper attention to the children. She often threatened the husband that she would slice his throat and even strangulated him during sleep. Whenever he did not accede to her demand for unnatural sex, she threatened to slice away his penis. She often threatened him with suicide, and once she jumped out of a running car. She went out of the house during night hours without informing the husband, and there was occasion to bring her from street during midnight. Though she was taken to various psychologists and psychiatrists, she was not co-operating with the treatment. In July 2005, she returned to her paternal house and thereafter, she never came back to live with her husband and children. The two girl children were taken care of by the husband and his mother. She was not bothered about the girl children, who were school going children, when she left her matrimonial home. When the husband was admitted in hospital due to heart attack, she did not care, even to visit him in hospital. She was extending her cruelties to the age old mother-in-law also. As it was impossible for the husband to continue his marital relationship with her, due to her cruel nature and attitude and also because of desertion, he filed the above O.P for dissolution of his marriage.

4. The wife was contending that the grounds alleged by the husband for divorce were absolutely false, and in fact, she was ill-treated by the husband and his mother. She was married while she was doing her post graduation, and she was not even provided food or clothing by the husband. Whenever the torture became unbearable, she went back to her paternal house. But the husband and his mother were attempting to depict her as a mental patient. She was ready to attend counselling and to undergo treatment to save her family life. The husband was not ready to do anything to make his wife happy, and in fact, he was treating her as a slave. The bitter experiences in life, put her under great mental stress and strain. The husband also was advised for treatment, but he was not willing. She was never abusive and she never assaulted him. The threat of homicide and suicide are only false allegations. She was willing to lead a normal family life with the husband, but to prevent her from entering his house, his mother filed an injunction suit. According to her, there is no ground to dissolve their marriage, and still she is in