Asking Married Woman To Do Household Chores Is Not Cruelty: Bombay HC

The court made the comment while quashing an FIR against a man whose wife had accused him of cruelty and harassment.

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If a married woman is asked to do household work for the family, the same cannot be equated to the work of a maid and would not amount to cruelty, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court said while quashing a case lodged by a woman against her estranged husband and his parents on domestic violence.
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Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Rajesh S Patil of the Aurangabad bench of the High Court made the observation while quashing a case filed by a woman who had accused her husband and in-laws of cruelty and physical and mental harassment.

Married Woman And Household Chores

In her complaint, the woman alleged that after a month of marriage, her husband and in-laws started demanding Rs 4 lakh from her to buy a car. The husband harassed her physically and mentally when she said that her father cannot afford the amount, the woman alleged, according to Live Law.

The HC, in its order, noted the woman had merely stated she was harassed but had not specified any such action in her complaint.

“If a married lady is asked to do household work definitely for the purpose of the family, it cannot be said that it is like a maidservant. If she had no wish to do her household activities, then she ought to have told it either prior to the marriage so that the bridegroom can rethink the marriage itself or if it is after marriage, then such a problem ought to have been sorted out earlier,” a bench of Justice Vibha V Kankanwadi and Justice Rajesh S Patil observed on October 21.

It further said mere use of the words harassment 'mentally and physically' is not sufficient to attract Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code unless such acts are described.

She was allegedly assaulted on June 27, 2020, after which the complaint was lodged with the Nanded police. Charges under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) were also added in the domestic violence case.

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The bench also held that “it would be futile to ask the petitioner (husband) to face trial” in connection with the other offences and thus quashed the FIR and set aside the criminal proceedings pending before a magistrate court.


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