Losing sight of a moral compass
Majoritarian logic has no place in a plural society, argue Shivanshu K Srivastava and Nupur Chaurasiya
The Allahabad High Court has said that a married woman is extremely possessive about her husband and cannot bear to share him with others.
The bench of Justice Rahul Chaturvedi made the observation as it upheld a trial court order dismissing a discharge application filed by a man accused of abetting his wife’s suicide.
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The court went on to state that the accused, Sushil Kumar, had married for the third time and this was apparently the sole reason why his wife committed suicide.
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The court went on to add that for a wife, her husband marrying another woman in secret is “sufficient reason” to end her own life.
“They (Indian wives) are literally possessive about their husband. It would be biggest jolt for any married woman that her husband is being shared by some other lady or he is going to marry some other lady. In such awkward situation, it would be impossible to expect any sanity from them. Exactly same thing happened in this case too,” the bench said.
The matter pertains to an instant revision plea filed by the husband of the woman who died by suicide.
The deceased woman had lodged an FIR at Manduadih police station in Varanasi against her husband and his six family members under multiple sections of the IPC.
This included the charges of voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and marrying again during the lifetime of the spouse.
In the FIR, the wife alleged that her husband was already married with two children, but he tied the knot for the third time without getting a divorce.
The victim also stated that she was assaulted and mentally tortured by her husband and in-laws.
Soon after filing the FIR, the woman reportedly consumed poison and died.
Police began an investigation and filed a chargesheet against the husband and his family members.
The accused first moved a discharge petition in the trial court, which was rejected.
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