Monday, March 10, 2025
HomeNewsWomen Can Seek Dissolution Of Marriage If They Face Mental Torture,...

Women Can Seek Dissolution Of Marriage If They Face Mental Torture, Rules Peshawar High Court

Published on

Expanding the scope of an earlier Supreme Court ruling allowing women to seek dissolution of marriage on account of “cruelty” by their husband or his family, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) has declared that besides physical violence against women by their husbands, mental, moral, and psychological torture is also tantamount to cruelty in such cases.

Justice Shahid Khan of a single-member bench ruled this while hearing a petition filed by a female cancer patient against the dissolution of her marriage.

Initially, the woman had filed a lawsuit for the dissolution of her marriage on basis of cruelty in a trial court. The trial court (family court) had accepted the woman’s plea and had ordered the ex-husband to pay the dower amount as well as past maintenance from June 2018 to the completion of the ex-wife’s iddat period. The court had also ordered the recovery of Rs500,000 on account of medical expenses as requested by the woman.

Dawn reported, the woman had maintained that she got married in 2018 and after four months of the marriage she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had accused her husband of physical, mental, and psychological torture. However, the ex-husband denied the claims and challenged the verdict in a North Waziristan appellate court, which partially accepted it and dissolved the marriage on the basis of khula and not cruelty.

However, both the woman and her ex-husband appealed the verdict in the high court.

Justice Shahid Khan set aside the North Waziristan appellate court’s verdict that terminated the couple’s marriage on the basis of khula and not cruelty.

The court observed that the husband’s attitude was not cordial with his wife since the beginning of the marriage, adding according to the evidence presented, the man also never accompanied his wife during her clinical investigation.

It also observed that the man’s attitude was rather unbelievable, improper, and indecent, considering that he knew that his wife was suffering from an incurable disease and has a thin chance of survival.

“Due love and affection is the inherent right of the wife,” it observed.

The court ruled that the appellate court made a mistake by not dissolving the marriage on the basis of cruelty from the husband, whereas the conclusion of the trial court to dissolve the marriage tie on the ground of cruelty was well found.

Latest articles

In Powerful Verdict, Islamabad High Court Upholds Conviction of Rapist While Defining ‘Consent’

ISLAMABAD: Upholding the conviction of a man charged with raping a 20-year-old woman, the Islamabad High Court judge Justice...

22 Ahmadis Arrested From Place of Worship Under Pressure From Extremist Mob in Sialkot

LAHORE: Under pressure from Islamist extremist groups, police arrested 22 members of the Ahmadi minority community, including children, in...

How The PPP Played Both Sides While Passing The Draconian PECA Amendments

Journalists across Pakistan are out on the streets protesting against The Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act (PECA) 2025...

Looking Back at 2024 Election Violence In Balochistan That The Rest of Pakistan Ignored

This report is part of Dissent Today’s special series documenting violence and alleged irregularities during Pakistan’s 2024 general elections.  Balochistan,...

A Year After Elections, Ex-Waziristan Parliamentarian Unable to Find Justice for Fallen Comrades

This report is part of Dissent Today's special series documenting violence and alleged irregularities during Pakistan's 2024 general elections.  When...

Pakistan Govt’s Plan To Send Afghan Refugees Back To Afghanistan Raises Concerns From UNHCR

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) voiced their concerns...

Expanding the scope of an earlier Supreme Court ruling allowing women to seek dissolution of marriage on account of “cruelty” by their husband or his family, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) has declared that besides physical violence against women by their husbands, mental, moral, and psychological torture is also tantamount to cruelty in such cases.

Justice Shahid Khan of a single-member bench ruled this while hearing a petition filed by a female cancer patient against the dissolution of her marriage.

Initially, the woman had filed a lawsuit for the dissolution of her marriage on basis of cruelty in a trial court. The trial court (family court) had accepted the woman’s plea and had ordered the ex-husband to pay the dower amount as well as past maintenance from June 2018 to the completion of the ex-wife’s iddat period. The court had also ordered the recovery of Rs500,000 on account of medical expenses as requested by the woman.

Dawn reported, the woman had maintained that she got married in 2018 and after four months of the marriage she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had accused her husband of physical, mental, and psychological torture. However, the ex-husband denied the claims and challenged the verdict in a North Waziristan appellate court, which partially accepted it and dissolved the marriage on the basis of khula and not cruelty.

However, both the woman and her ex-husband appealed the verdict in the high court.

Justice Shahid Khan set aside the North Waziristan appellate court’s verdict that terminated the couple’s marriage on the basis of khula and not cruelty.

The court observed that the husband’s attitude was not cordial with his wife since the beginning of the marriage, adding according to the evidence presented, the man also never accompanied his wife during her clinical investigation.

It also observed that the man’s attitude was rather unbelievable, improper, and indecent, considering that he knew that his wife was suffering from an incurable disease and has a thin chance of survival.

“Due love and affection is the inherent right of the wife,” it observed.

The court ruled that the appellate court made a mistake by not dissolving the marriage on the basis of cruelty from the husband, whereas the conclusion of the trial court to dissolve the marriage tie on the ground of cruelty was well found.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Also Read

Woman Killed, Body Set On Fire In Sindh

Unidentified suspects killed an 18-year-old woman and set her...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa To Have Its First Woman Chief Justice 

In a significant milestone for women's representation in Pakistan's...

Woman’s Body Parts Stuffed In Plastic Bag Recovered From...

Police have recovered the body parts of an unidentified...