The Bombay High Court has ruled that refusing physical relations and constantly suspecting a husband of having an extra-marital affair amounts to cruelty and is a valid reason for divorce.

A bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale rejected a woman’s appeal against a family court’s decision to grant divorce to her husband. The woman had also asked for ₹1 lakh as monthly maintenance, which the court denied.

The couple got married in 2013 but started living separately in 2014. The husband filed for divorce in 2015, saying his wife had been cruel to him. He said she denied physical intimacy, accused him of cheating, insulted him in front of others, and left his home to live with her parents. He also claimed she was rude to his specially-abled sister.

The wife said her in-laws harassed her but she still loved her husband and didn’t want the marriage to end.

The court said the wife’s actions caused mental pain to the husband and his family, and the marriage was clearly beyond repair. It dismissed her plea, saying the relationship had broken down with no chance of coming back together.