Husband obligated to maintain estranged wife: Court

A husband is liable to maintain his estranged wife and cannot be allowed to run away from his responsibility, a court here has observed while directing a man to pay monthly maintenance to his wife in a domestic violence case.
Metropolitan Magistrate Chetna Singh directed the man, a Rajasthan native, to pay Rs 4,000 to his two minor children and wife, who has accused him and his family of harassment for dowry.
"The applicant is unemployed and she has two minor kids to support. She is dependent on her parents for her monthly expenditure.
"Husband is under moral and legal obligation to maintain the wife and cannot be permitted to run away from his responsibility. Complainant is under constant tension and is finding it difficult to live and maintain herself," the magistrate said.

While deciding the woman's petition under Protection from Domestic Violence Act, the court noted that the accused and his family used to torture her for bringing insufficient dowry and she was ousted from the matrimonial house within six months of marriage in 2007.
They also tried to kill her by pouring kerosene but was saved by the neighbours. After this, she was sent to her parental home, it noted.
"The entire testimony of the complainant has remained unrebutted and unchallenged as the respondent (husband) failed to appear and put the complainant to the test of cross examination.
"There are categorical affirmations of inflicting mental, verbal and physical cruelty on the woman by the hands of the husband and in-laws entitling her to invoke the provision of the Act making a case in her favour," the court said.