The petitioner-wife like all other women entered into the marriage state with respondent-husband hoping to fulfil one of the most important functions of matrimony i.e. bearing of children. But the respondent-husband was selfish and unscrupulous who cared more for his s*xual satisfaction and married the petitioner by concealing the factum of his undergoing sterilisation operation knowing fully well that she would be driven to barrenness. The said act of the respondent-husband in undergoing sterilisation operation and then marrying the petitioner-wife denying the latter the normal means of child bearing is an unlawful assault and a grave cruelty on the petitioner-wife and progressive hurt to her health and such a cruelty is both physical and mental. As such, there was a just and sufficient cause for the petitioner-wife to stay apart from the respondent-husband and claim maintenance.
Andhra High Court
Kamadi Bhavani vs Kamadi Lakshmanaswamy Lakshmana ... on 11 March, 1994
Equivalent citations: 1994 (1) ALT 472, 1994 (1) ALT Cri 580, 1994 CriLJ 1827