NEW DELHI: It's not always women who suffer due to cruelty and assault by their errant husbands. A husband too has been able to get divorce from his wife on grounds of assault and abuse. Before the SC granted him divorce on the charge of cruelty and assault by his wife, the man had lodged complaints with the Mahila Samiti in 1993. He suffered a fracture after his wife slapped him and pushed him against a wall.

She succeeded in the high court, which held that the allegations of abusive behaviour by the wife were not proved. The aggrieved husband’s counsel argued that it was not necessary for a husband to establish from written statement that the wife was abusive. She had made the charge of adultery during the proceedings for maintenance, which she got — Rs 800 a month.

A Bench of Justices Ruma Pal and Arun Kumar dismissed the wife’s plea for restoration of conjugal rights and upheld the decree for divorce that the husband had got about a decade ago.

Since the two children of the estranged couple were being brought up by the father, no maintenance could be paid for them. But as there was an increase in the husband’s income, his wife should be given enhanced maintenance of Rs 1,500 per month from November 1.