Delhi HC Rules Forcing Sick Women Into Housework As Cruelty

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday observed that asking a wife to do household chores when she is ill may amount to cruelty. The judgement was made while adjudicating a case in which a husband approached the court for divorce. Read on to learn more about the judgement. 

As per the reports, the husband sought divorce on the grounds that the wife was not interested in marriage since the beginning. In the petition, he alleged that his wife disrespected him and his family. He also added that she did not contribute in the day-to-day chores and did not help the family financially either. 

The statement on housework

 A two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna granted divorce to the husband. Talking about the household chores, the bench said, "In our opinion, when a wife indulges herself to do household chores, she does it with affection and love for her family, if her health or other circumstances do not permit her, forcefully asking her to do household chores would certainly be cruelty."

However, the court also noted that the husband was innocent as he didn't force his wife to perform household chores. He even made sure that there was a house help to perform the domestic work. 

The court found the wife guilty of accusing her husband of false charges of extra-marital affairs. She also made criminal complaints against him and his family. The bench said, "Such allegations that assassinate the spouse's character amount to (the) highest cruelty, which shall shake the foundation of marriage. In the present case, the respondent, by levelling allegations of an extramarital affair, has committed immense cruelty to him." 

The court further said, "By tarnishing the public image of the appellant and his family, at his workplace and also to their relatives, amounts to damage to their respect, and it is obvious for the spouse at the suffering end to lose trust and respect for the other." 

Why the court's judgement is remarkable? 

The court's statement on household chores is worth noting in this judgment. We live in a society where women are forced to do the housework even if they are on oxygen support. Let's go back in time when COVID-19 had gripped the country. When the entire country was in fear of death, the women of the houses were indulged in supporting the locked-in family through housework. An image surfaced on social media in which a woman who was on oxygen support was seen working in the kitchen. 

Even today, I see my mother and my aunts toiling in the house even if they are limping due to the pain caused by age. But does anyone offer to help or ask them to rest? No. Even if someone does, they refuse to rest because it is ingrained in their minds that performing housework is their duty and the only way to show love and care to the family. 

But, thankfully, our society is developing, a Few days ago, the Supreme Court made a remarkable judgement on homemakers saying that their work is invaluable and is in no way less than the person who brings salary at home. Karnataka High Court said that stay-at-home mum's jobs should be recognised as full-time jobs.

The question that remains is how many women are reading these judgments. These judgements are knocking sense into the minds of how many families? Till today, the load of unpaid labour is on women. Just yesterday, a man killed his live-in partner because she did not make egg curry for him. If we really want the change to happen, we need to take the fight outside the courtrooms. We need to educate every family about the rights of homemakers. Only then can we see some changes happening on the ground level. 

Views expressed are the author's own.