Suicide threats, abuse qualify as mental cruelty for divorce: Telangana HC

Hyderabad: Repeated suicide threats, abusive behavior, and false legal intimidation constitute mental cruelty warranting divorce, the Telangana High Court ruled, upholding a family court's 2016 decree ending a 1999 marriage.

Justices K. Lakshman and BR Madhusudhan Rao dismissed the wife's appeal, finding no flaws in the LB Nagar Family Court's order granting the husband relief. The couple, wed at Annavaram Temple under Hindu rites, have twins born in 2001; discord mounted over years.

The husband cited excessive suspicious phone calls sparking quarrels, backed by call records and an independent witness who confirmed her suicide threats as coercion. She countered with claims of his drunken absences and neglect but couldn't refute the evidence.

Justice Lakshman noted such conduct breeds fear and instability, making cohabitation untenable. Mental cruelty, he stressed, stems from sustained patterns, not just violence. The appeal was accordingly dismissed.