The Madras High Court recently ruled that although Islamic law permits polygamy, a husband must treat each of his wives equally; otherwise, it would be considered cruelty. A family court in Tirunelveli that had issued an order for the dissolution of marriage on the grounds of cruelty was affirmed by a bench of justices composed of RMT Teeka Raman and PB Balaji.
The Bench stated that the husband had originally tormented and tortured his first wife together with his family members. He later consummated a second marriage, this time to a different woman, and they have been cohabiting ever since. As required by the norms of Islamic law, he (the husband) has not treated the first and second wives equally. The ruling said, “The husband has the right to be married to multiple wives under Islamic law, but he must treat each wife equally.
According to the first wife’s account, her husband, his mother, and his sister harassed her. She said that her husband and in-laws mistreated her during her pregnancy and even cruelly fed her food to which she wasn’t allergic. She said that she was reprimanded by her mother-in-law for not wearing a saree correctly during her pregnancy. She went on to say that her sister-in-law bullied her for not being able to have a child after she had a miscarriage.
The wife also stated that her husband didn’t enjoy the food she made for him and would constantly compare her to certain relatives. The wife left the married home when the abuse and harassment could no longer stand. The spouse threatened to remarry if she didn’t return, at which point. According to the first wife, her husband has been contentedly living with the second woman. The spouse refuted each and every accusation.
Nevertheless, the Court observed after reviewing the evidence that the wife had successfully proven that her husband had mistreated her and neglected to provide for her when he took a second wife. According to the bench, the husband even disregarded his duties as a husband to the first wife. He had a duty to support his wife as a husband, even if she was living with her parents. If he felt hurt by her parting in the first place, he ought to have tried to get her back together. If that didn’t work, he had every right to declare talaq. However, in this particular instance, the husband did not perform this kind of conduct; in reality, he neglected his first wife, disregarded his obligations, and married someone else.”
The Bench stated that all of these facts demonstrate that the first wife was subjected to multiple cruelties by her husband, which caused her to return to her parents’ house. Therefore, we believe that the husband did not treat the first and second wives equally and that the first wife’s abuse of him and his failure to provide for her for two years were manifested. It is our belief that the Family Court’s decision to dissolve the marriage because the husband mistreated the wife and did not treat her fairly, together with the second wife, is well-founded and does not call for intervention, the judgement said. In light of these findings, the bench denied the husband’s appeal.
