He wanted to convert his Hindu wife to Islam, and was not even ready to leave her: The High Court said- that forcing her to convert was cruelty, and approved the divorce

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The wife had filed a petition in the family court seeking divorce from her Muslim husband. She had cited cruelty and abandonment as the reason for this. The wife had said that her Muslim husband is constantly forcing her to convert to Islam. When she refuses, her husband abuses her over her caste. The wife said that she is a Hindu woman from the Scheduled Caste.

In an important decision, the Madras High Court said that forcing a spouse to convert in inter-religious marriages is cruelty. The High Court allowed divorce while upholding the decision of the Family Court. The Hindu wife belonging to the Scheduled Caste had accused her Muslim husband of forcing and assaulting her to convert to Islam.

Hearing the case, a division bench of Justice N Seshasayee (now retired) and Justice Victoria Gauri said that forcing conversion is a direct violation of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The court said, "Depriving someone of the right to practice one's religion and forcing conversion to another religion will deprive the victim of his life and personal liberty."

According to a Live Law report, the court said that when someone is not allowed to practice his religion freely, it affects his quality of life. This makes his life undignified. When someone is forced to convert in the name of God to save his marriage, it shakes the foundation of the institution of marriage.

The court said, "Under every personal law, the institution of marriage is a sacred union of two souls. The marriage system is considered sacred and should be protected." After this, the High Court accepted the petition of the wife and allowed her to divorce her Muslim husband. This was the decision given by the Family Court, against which the Muslim husband had appealed in the High Court.

The wife had filed a petition in the family court seeking divorce from her Muslim husband. She had cited cruelty and abandonment as the reason for this. The wife had said that her Muslim husband is constantly forcing her to convert to Islam. When she refuses, her husband abuses her over her caste. The wife said that she is a Hindu woman from the Scheduled Caste.

The husband argued that the case was filed with a motive. The husband said that his wife claimed that she was brutally beaten up and had undergone treatment, but she did not produce any documentary evidence to prove this. The husband also argued that there was no evidence to prove that his wife was forced to convert to Islam.

The court accepted that both of them had a love marriage under the Special Marriage Act, but he tortured her mentally and physically to convert her. The court also accepted that the husband had also changed his wife's Hindu name. Not only this, the husband had left his wife and had been living with his sister for the last two years. The court termed this as cruelty and considered it sufficient grounds for divorce.

PC:Aapindia

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