Recently, the Kerala High Court issued some views regarding marriage and its sacredness in contemporary culture. The “use and toss” mentality has impacted matrimonial relationships, and the younger generation views marriage as evil, according to a division bench of Justices A. Muhammed Mustaque and Sophy Thomas.
The bench noted that younger generations eschew marriage in order to live free lives without duties or liabilities. “They would expand the word ‘WIFE’ as’ Worry Invited For Ever ‘, substituting the old concept of’ Wise Investment For Ever’. The consumer culture of “use and throw’ seems to have influenced our matrimonial relationships also. Live-in relationships are on the rise, just to say goodbye when they fell apart,” it said.
“Kerala, known as Go’s own country, was once famous for its well-knit family bondage. But the present trend seems to break the nuptial tie for flimsy or selfish reasons, or for extra-marital relationships, even unmindful of their children. The wails and screams coming out of disturbed and destroyed families are liable to shake the conscience of society as a whole. When warring couples, deserted children, and desperate divorcees occupy the majority of our population, no doubt it will adversely affect the tranquillity of our social life and our society will have stunted growth,” the bench observed.
The case involves a spouse who filed for divorce on the grounds of cruel behaviour against his wife. According to reports, the pair were a Christian couple who resided in Saudi Arabia. They have their own daughters. The husband claimed that his wife had started acting strangely and suspected him of having extramarital affairs with other women. The wife argued that she never used violence against her husband nor physically abused him.
The court observed that suspecting the fidelity of the husband, on reasonable grounds, can not be termed abnormal behaviour. “When the wife has reasonable grounds to suspect the chastity or fidelity of her husband, and if she questions him, or expresses her deep pain and sorrow before him, it can not be termed as a behavioural abnormality, as it is the natural human conduct of a normal wife. The normal human reactions or responses of a wife, on knowing that her husband was having an illicit connection with another lady, cannot be termed as behavioural abnormality or cruelty on the part of the wife, so as to dissolve their marriage,” the court observed.
It was stated that a wrongdoer may not appear in court to “legalise” his unlawful behaviour. Simple arguments cannot be viewed as cruelties that justify a divorce because they are part of the normal wear and tear of marriages.