The Madras High Court has reaffirmed that marriage does not grant a man unquestioned authority over his wife, ruling that a woman’s endurance of cruelty cannot be mistaken for silent acceptance. The judgment came in a case involving an elderly couple, where the wife had accused her husband of long-standing emotional and mental abuse, including isolation, denial of food, destruction of religious items, and threats of false implication.

Originally convicted under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code for cruelty, the husband had been acquitted by an appellate court,a decision the High Court overturned after finding clear evidence of continued mistreatment.

The Court stated that the wife’s patience, exercised over decades, could not be construed as consent to cruelty. It stressed that the absence of dowry demands does not absolve a husband of accountability under the law, as cruelty extends beyond financial or physical abuse to include emotional neglect, humiliation, and deprivation of dignity.

The Court highlighted that the institution of marriage is built on mutual respect and equality, not domination or submission.

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