4 hours Ago
Representative image An Odisha-born man, who got married in May 2003, endured mental and emotional abuse from his wife for 15 long years before finally being granted a divorce by the High Court. His wife allegedly harassed him constantly and frequently threatened suicide, which took a serious toll on his mental health. Things got so bad that he ended up resigning from his job at Tata Consultancy Services ( TCS ), citing her abuse in his resignation email.
Ironically, during this time, the man had also supported his wife's to pursue MSc from the New York Institute of Technology in the U.S. As per reports, while the man got married in 2003 trouble started brewing in his marriage soon after.
The reason: He alleged his wife wanted him to make her the sole nominee of his LIC policy, and also wanted ownership of his house in Bhubaneshwar where his elderly parents lived. And his trauma wasn’t limited to home. When the man was posted in Bangkok, he had to seek help from the Royal Thai Police after his wife showed up at his workplace and threatened suicide.
He alleged that she also followed him to the Kolkata airport and threatened him and his family— forcing airport police to intervene. In another incident, when the man was working in Dallas, his wife reportedly hit him with a music system speaker during an arguement and it landed him in the emergency ward. Meanwhile, back home in Odisha, she allegedly sent goons to evict his elderly parents from his apartment.
Despite all this, when the man filed for divorce in 2009, the wife claimed she still wanted to be with him and filed for restitution of conjugal rights. Yet, she also lodged 45 police complaints (FIRs) against him. Eventually, both the Cuttack Family Court and the Odisha High Court ruled in his favour, saying her actions amounted to mental cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The High Court emphasised that no one should be forced to stay in a toxic marriage and that the husband deserved peace and emotional relief. On Match 19, 2025, the Odisha High Court granted him a divorce, but also ordered him to pay INR 63 lakh in alimony . It noted that her repeated threats were a form of emotional blackmail and psychological abuse.
Here's a timeline of this case - The man and woman in this case got married on May 11, 2003, in Cuttack, Odisha after which they resided in their matrimonial house in Haripur, Odisha. During thier married life, they also lived in Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, the USA, Japan, and other places together. - However, issues started cropping up soon after they got married.
The husband alleged that his wife pressured him to cut his ties with his parents, and she also demanded control over his finances which lead to fights between them. - Considering their frequent arguments, their elders advised them to move to their Bhubaneswar home. But, the woman's violent behaviours continued.
So much so that once the husband was assaulted so badly that he received nose and facial injuries-- his neighbours shared. - On November 26, 2006, while he was working in Dallas, his wife allegedly hit him on the head with a speaker from their music system, leaving him with a scalp injury. Hospital records from Parkland Health & Hospital System confirmed that he was admitted to the emergency ward for treatment following the assault.
- In December 2008, the wife, her parents, and some goons allegedly arrived at her in-laws' village house and threatened them. The woman had grabbed her mother-in-law by her neck and tried to choke her. When her father-in-law tried to save his wife, he was confronted by the woman and her accomplices.
- A year later, on November 11, 2009, the wife returned to her in-law’s house along with her sister. And a few days later, she locked her in-laws out of the house, which forced them to spend the night on the streets. The police intervened when the elderly couple filed a police report against her.
- During this time, the woman filed as many as 45 FIRS against her husband. Shortly after this, the man filed for a divorce in 2009 in the Cuttack Family Court. Cuttack Family Court grants divorce, but with alimony After years of gong through their marital problems, the Cuttack Family Court finally granted the man a divorce on August 7, 2023.
But the Family Court asked the man to the pay INR 63 lakhs as permanent alimony, while also dismissing the wife’s petition for restitution of her conjugal rights. Meanwhile, citing on-going harassment by his wife, the man resigned from his job at TCS. His resignation email was dated August 30, 2024.
Stating his resignation letter, the court said, “The respondent-husband has submitted a copy of his resignation email from 30th August 2024, wherein he explicitly cited his wife’s repeated interruptions in his day-to-day work life at TCS as the sole reason for his resignation. In the email, he conveyed that the appellant’s persistent attempts to contact him at his workplace not only disrupted his professional responsibilities but also created an uncomfortable environment for his colleagues and staff members.” Odisha High Court gives acknowledged mental cruelty, tells man to pay INR 63 lakhs alimony However, the wife still wanted to continue the marriage and she filed an appeal in the Odisha High Court.
She said that she has been denied her marital rights. But hearing their case, the Odisha High Court acknowledged that the woman's repeated threats were a form of emotional blackmail for the man and hence it agreed with the Family Court's decision. The High Court said in its final judgement, “The appellant’s (wife’s) actions, viewed collectively, meet the threshold of mental cruelty as defined under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act.
Therefore, this court finds no infirmity in the impugned judgment granting divorce to the respondent-husband, and the appeal is liable to be dismissed. The law cannot compel a person to endure a marriage that has become a source of suffering and torment, and the respondent (husband) is entitled to the peace and emotional relief that can only be found in the dissolution of this broken bond." The HC added, “The permanent alimony of INR 63,00,000 awarded by the learned Judge, Family Court, Cuttack, is not to be interfered with.
This amount seeks to strike a balance between providing the appellant with reasonable financial security and ensuring that the respondent is not unduly burdened, thereby upholding the principles of fairness and equity in matrimonial disputes.” What are your views on this particular incident? Tell us in the comments section below. Obama’s SECRET Struggle: How Barack’s FIGHTING To Save His Marriage With Michelle Amid DIVORCE Buzz.
