Repeated suicide threats are emotional blackmail and psychological oppression: Orissa HC
Delivering a landmark verdict on Monday, a two-judge bench dismissed a woman's appeal for the restitution of conjugal rights after a family court had earlier granted divorce and ordered a substantial alimony payment.
Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has ruled that a woman's repeated threats to commit suicide constitute an insidious form of emotional blackmail and psychological oppression against her husband and his family.
Delivering a landmark verdict on Monday, a two-judge bench dismissed a woman's appeal for the restitution of conjugal rights after a family court had earlier granted divorce and ordered a substantial alimony payment.
The bench, comprising Justices BP Routray and Chittaranjan Dash, observed that such threats go beyond mere misconduct.
“Repeated threats of suicide—or worse, harm to the spouse and their family—transcend emotional outbursts. They amount to a gross misuse of emotional vulnerability and a blatant form of psychological warfare,” the court stated.
The judges further noted that the impact of such behaviour extends far beyond the confines of the matrimonial home, leaving lasting scars on the mental and emotional well-being of the affected spouse.
Upholding the family court’s decision to dissolve the marriage, the High Court sided with the husband, who had sought a divorce citing years of emotional and psychological distress.
According to case records, the couple married in 2003, but by 2009, the husband filed for divorce, citing constant conflicts, financial control by his wife, repeated suicide threats, and the forced eviction of his elderly parents.
The family court in Cuttack had granted the divorce, contingent upon the husband paying a one-time alimony of Rs 63 lakh.