Madras High Court: It is cruelty for a husband to pressure his wife to change her religion after marriage. Moreover, such pressure seriously affects her quality of life and her life becomes lifeless and without dignity. 

The Madras High Court, while giving an important verdict, said that if a husband or wife in an inter-religious marriage is constantly forced to adopt another religion, then it would be considered cruelty. The court said that doing so is against Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) and Article 25 (right to religion) of the Constitution.

The court said that if a person is not given the freedom to believe and practice his religion, it seriously affects the quality of his life and his life becomes lifeless without dignity. The court also said that forcing someone to change religion in the name of marriage hollows out the foundation of marriage itself.

The husband wanted to convert to Islam

The case involved a petition filed by a Muslim husband who challenged a family court order dissolving his marriage with his Hindu wife as she had sought divorce on two grounds - cruelty and desertion. The wife had alleged that her husband had repeatedly forced her to convert to Islam and insulted her on the basis of her caste as she belonged to the Scheduled Caste.

was living separately for two years

Although the husband claimed that the wife had made false allegations and there was no evidence that she was forced to convert, the court found that the husband had subjected the wife to constant physical and mental torture, changed her name and forced her to convert to Islam. The court also noted that the husband had abandoned the wife and had been living with his sister for over two years.

Divorce granted

The court said that this behaviour of the husband caused serious mental distress to the wife, hurt her faith and conscience, which became a challenge to her life and personal liberty. Therefore, the court granted divorce on the grounds of cruelty and abandonment, saying that forcing someone to convert without consent is equivalent to committing violence.