‘Forcible, Unnatural Sex’ Grounds for Divorce: Punjab & Haryana HC

The High Court upheld the decision after a Bathinda woman’s plea was turned down by a lower court.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that “forcible and unnatural” sexual intercourse are valid grounds for divorce. Image used for representational purpose. 

(Photo: iStock)

The Punjab and Haryana High Court held that forcible and unnatural sexual intercourse in a marriage, which amounts to cruelty, are valid grounds to file for divorce, reported The Indian Express.

The decision comes after the court allowed a plea, filed by a Bathinda woman after she sought the dissolution of her marriage.

The High Court in its judgment stated that the allegations are serious in nature, however, they cannot be proved as “the acts of sodomy or unnatural sex or oral sex forcibly committed during difficult periods” can neither be witnessed by any other person or proven by medical evidence.

The woman who had filed the petition almost four years ago, was turned down by a lower court ruling that her allegations of unnatural and forced oral sex performed by her husband, could not be verified through medical examination.

We find that the claim of the appellant has been wrongly rejected. The act of sodomy, forcible sexual intercourse and adoption of unnatural means which are forced upon the other spouse and result in unbearable pain to the extent that one is forced to stay away would certainly be a ground to seek separation or decree of divorce.

Justices M M S Bedi and Hari Pal Verma said in the judgment passed on 1 June. 

The court observed that such cases need to be dealt with added caution since not every case in which one spouse levels such allegations on the other could be deemed to be true.

The woman who is said to have married her husband from Bihar back in 2007, also has a child out of the marriage. She has claimed that she was allegedly harassed mentally and physically by her husband and his relatives over dowry. She also alleged that her husband was an alcoholic and would force her to engage in forced, unnatural and humiliating sexual acts against her wishes.

The woman had married her husband, who hails from Bihar, back in 2007 and has a child from the marriage.

(With inputs from The Indian Express)