Recently, the Kerala High Court issued some views regarding marriage and its sacredness in contemporary culture. The younger generation views marriage as evil, according to a division bench of Justices A Muhammed Mustaque and Sophy Thomas, who highlighted that the “use and toss” attitude has damaged married ties.
The bench noted that younger generations put off getting married in order to live free lives without duties or responsibilities. The court stated, “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 further added, “Kerala, known as God’s own country, was once famous for its well-knit family bondage. But the present trend it 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 case involves a spouse who filed for divorce on the grounds of cruel behavior against his wife. According to reports, the pair was a Christian couple who resided in Saudi Arabia. Three daughters are theirs. 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 or physically abused him.

The court stated that it is not abnormal behavior to have suspicions about the husband’s loyalty based on reasonable grounds. The court said, “When the wife had 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 behavioral abnormality, as it is the natural human conduct of a normal wife. The normal human reactions or responses from a wife, on knowing that he husband was having an illicit connection with another lady, cannot be termed as behavioral abnormality or cruelty from the part of the wife, so as to dissolve their marriage.”

It was stated that a troublemaker cannot appear in court to “legalize” his unlawful conduct. Simple arguments cannot be viewed as cruelties that justify a divorce; rather, they might be considered normal wear and tear of spousal relationships, it stated.

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