A Sessions Court in Mumbai upheld a trial court’s order directing a gay man to pay maintenance to his estranged wife. The bench noted that the term ‘aggrieved person’ under the Domestic Violence Act wouldn’t just include a woman who suffers physical abuse but also sexual, verbal and emotional abuse.
Additional Sessions Judge Dr AA Joglekar dismissed the appeal filed by the husband against a Magistrate Court’s order directing him to pay Rs 15,000 monthly maintenance to the wife.
“Considering the tenor of Section 3 of the Domestic Violence Act it can be clearly inferred that, the term domestic violence in corporates for a wider scope and it is not at all limited for mere physical injuries or abuse, but the same can also be stretched pertaining to sexual, verbal, emotional and economical abuse,” the bench stated.
The trial court had noted that any act or conduct of respondent (husband) in violation of the section would naturally come under the purview of domestic violence.
They got married in December 2012. She stated that the husband had not consummated their marriage and found him sexting other men. The wife further alleged that the husband would return home late and had created fictitious Facebook account which reflects his compromising position with other men.
On the other hand, the husband claimed that the wife doesn’t have any proof about the allegations and he had never denied having sex. He added that it was her who denied having physical relations with him on the pretext of her examinations.
He contended that her allegations of domestic abuse were vague as she failed to prove who caused her domestic violence.
“Trial Court is in transgression to the very concept of the termed aggrieved person, more especially when the applicant failed to have stated as to who caused domestic violence to her,” the husband argued.
The bench noted that the wife had accessed photographs and screenshots of her husband’s nudes.
“It is evident that, the said contents accessed and retrieved by her from the respondent No.1’s mobile phone has naturally caused such trauma, distress and emotional abuse to the applicant,” the bench observed.
