Mumbai: Objecting to wife wearing kurta and jeans and forcing her to wear sari amounts to cruelty inflicted by husband and can be a ground to seek divorce, an Indian family court has ruled.

The wife pleaded that after marriage in December 2010, her husband did not buy her any clothes and therefore she had purchased kurta and jeans from her salary. However, the husband did not allow her to wear them, saying she should wear only saris.

In her order was passed on June 24, Principal Judge of Family Court, Dr Laxmi Rao, granted divorce to the wife on the ground of cruelty as defined under section 27(1)(d) of Special Marriage Act, 1954.

“In view of the averments made in the petition which have gone unchallenged, it can be said that the petitioner has proved her case, hence, she can be granted divorce as prayed by her. Her plea that she was restrained from wearing jeans and kurta amounts to cruelty as defined under the Act”, the judge held.

The wife further alleged that her husband and in-laws had asked her to bring Rs100,000 from her house or face dire consequences. They also asked her to quit her job but she had refused to toe their line.

The wife alleged that she was tortured and humiliated as a result of which she suffered mental depression and her life became miserable. She also alleged that her in-laws harassed her on one pretext or the other and warned that if she failed to bring dowry she would face dire consequences.

The wife told the court that on March 15, 2011, she was thrown out of her matrimonial house as she failed to bring the money. Since then till date she is compelled to stay at her parents house at their mercy as she is now jobless.

The petitioner said that her husband had never made attempts to bring her back home in Ambarnath town of Thane district where the couple lived. On the contrary, he sent vulgar SMS messages to her and her parents on their mobile phones in a bid to harass them and damage their reputation.

The wife said she had lodged a police complaint against her husband who worked in a BPO in suburban Malad and earned Rs28,000 per month.