A married Hindu woman's refusal to wear 'shaka' (conch shell bangle) and 'sindoor' (vermillion) signified her refusal to accept the marriage, said Gauhati High Court, granting divorce to a man.
Hearing a matrimonial appeal filed by the husband on 19 June, a Bench comprising Chief Justice Ajai Lamba and Justice Soumitra Saikia, set aside the family court order, which rejected the man's plea for divorce stating that no cruelty was found on the part of the wife.
According to a report in news agency PTI, the court observed:
“... her refusal to wear “sakha and sindoor” will project her to be unmarried and/or signify her refusal to accept the marriage with the appellant (husband). Such categorical stand of the respondent (wife) points to the clear intention of the respondent that she is unwilling to continue her conjugal life with the appellant.”
The couple were married on 17 February 2012. However, they started living separately since June 2013, after the woman expressed her desire to not live with his family members.
According to the report, she lodged a police complaint against her husband and his family members for alleged torture. However, her complaint was not sustained.
"Such acts of lodging criminal cases on unsubstantiated allegations against the husband and/or the husband''s family members amounts to cruelty as held by the Supreme Court," the judges said in the order.
(With inputs from PTI)
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