A magisterial court in Ahmedabad has directed an insurance company executive to provide monthly maintenance of Rs 50,000 and house rent of Rs 15,000 to his wife and minor daughter. The court ruled that the husband's secret second marriage constituted 'domestic violence in emotional form.'
Case Details
The woman filed a petition under the Domestic Violence Act, seeking maintenance and compensation, alleging that her husband married another woman while their marriage was still valid. The court, while granting maintenance, observed: 'The act of a husband contracting a second marriage during the subsistence of the first is a grave form of emotional and mental domestic violence. The husband has not explicitly refuted the existence of the second wife, leading this court to conclude that emotional domestic violence has been inflicted upon the first wife.'
Marriage and Separation
The couple married in 2011 while both worked for an insurance company in Surat. They had a daughter in 2017. In 2018, the wife and daughter were forced to leave the matrimonial home after the husband remarried. The wife subsequently filed a criminal complaint against her husband for bigamy and cruelty.
Court Proceedings
In 2024, the woman approached the magisterial court through advocate Salim Saiyed, seeking maintenance under the DV Act for herself and her daughter. The court fixed maintenance at Rs 50,000 monthly for both, noting that the second marriage during the subsistence of the first is a form of domestic violence. The husband argued that he was already paying maintenance under Section 125 of the CrPC. Since the woman did not disclose this receipt, the court refused to order additional compensation.
Restraining Order
The court also issued a restraining order against the husband and his second wife, stating: 'Respondent No. 1 (husband) and Respondent No. 4 (second wife) are hereby strictly prohibited from committing any acts of domestic violence, whether physical, emotional, or economic, against the applicants.'
