Published on : 26 Sep 2025, 4:54 am 3 min read

The Chhattisgarh High Court recently upheld a family court decision to grant divorce to a man whose wife called him 'paaltu chuha' or pet rat for refusing to live separately from his parents.

The Division Bench of Justice Rajani Dubey and Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad took exception to her conduct of asking the husband to abandon his parents.

In the context of Indian joint family values, compelling a spouse to forsake his parents is cruelty, the Court said.

" This conduct cannot be considered benign; rather, it belies the claim of innocence and instead underscores mental cruelty, particularly in the context of Indian joint family values, where compelling a spouse to forsake his parents is held as cruelty ," the Court said.

See Full Page