JUDGMENT :

P.M. MANOJ, J.

1. The above Mat. Appeal is preferred by the wife challenging the judgment dated 14.07.2023 in O.P.No. 1385/2016 on the file of the Family Court, Thiruvananthapuram. The Original Petition was preferred by the wife seeking dissolution of marriage on the ground of cruelty. The Original Petition was dismissed holding that the appellant had failed to prove matrimonial cruelty.

2. A perusal of the records disclosed that the marriage between the appellant and the respondent was solemnized on 29.01.1997. Two children were born in the wedlock. At the time of marriage, the respondent was working as an employee at Vijayalakshmi Cashews, Tamil Nadu.

3. The wife contended that the respondent was a spendthrift and never looked after her and her two children. It was contended that serious differences of opinion occurred between the spouses after the wife had acquired B.Tech. Degree and secured a job in the KSEBL. The husband had only basic qualifications and his job status was inferior to that of his wife. This led to the respondent acquiring an inferiority complex. He started physically and mentally abusing his wife alleging that she was having ‘chovva dosham’, meaning the