New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has put an end to a 16-year-old marriage, saying it is not easy to live with a spouse with mental health issues, where the wife hid that she was suffering from schizophrenia.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh, while hearing the petition of the husband, observed that marriage is not made only by happy memories and good times, in marriage two people have to face many challenges and difficulties together. It is not easy to live with a partner who has mental health issues, it has its own set of challenges for the person facing such problems, and even more so for his/her spouse. There should be an understanding of the problems in marriage and the communication between the partners- especially when one of the two partners in the marriage is facing such challenges.
On the wife not disclosing her mental health disorder before marriage, the High Court held that it was a fraud with the petitioner. The Court found that the wife never told the husband about her mental disorder and instead described it as a headache.
The court said that headache in itself is not a disease. It is only a symptom of a disease. The Respondent did not explain what caused him to have such severe and recurrent headaches, which debilitated him from completing his studies.
The court also observed that the refusal of the medical examination of the wife by the experts of the medical board leads to the conclusion that she was not prepared to face the medical board as it could establish her mental state and prove the allegation. It is known that she was suffering from schizophrenia. Why should such a spouse – who claims not to be suffering from any mental illness – who has preferred a petition for restoration of conjugal rights and expressed a desire to live with the appellant husband, undergo such a medical test? ? The court also noted that the wife thwarted the court’s efforts to reach the truth.
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