The Supreme Court has recently granted divorce on the plea of a man that he has been experiencing cruelty at the hands of his wife. For instance, she told him that he deserved a resounding slap, not a cup of tea, when he asked for the beverage. It is the first time that the court has accepted the argument that a woman could be so cruel that a man could demand divorce from her. Charges of cruelty in marriage have so far been raised by women against their husbands. Men seeking divorce often accuse the spouse of extramarital affairs rather than cruelty. That is why the apex court’s verdict is extraordinary.

It is pertinent to point out that the court has also accepted the plea that cruelty need not be in the form of a physical attack. In the instant case, it was a verbal assault that the wife made. It is true that verbal abuse can at times be more devastating than physical abuse. The judgment underscores the point that family relationships have undergone a metamorphosis over the last few decades. The concept that women constitute the weaker s*x is still valid but the view that men are the providers and women the receivers is no longer so in many marriages. There are innumerable families where the relationship is reversed. What is at play in all this is the rise of equality between the two s*xes. When social mores change, judges cannot remain oblivious to the changes as the judgment highlights. In a sense, there is also an irony here. Crimes against women are on the rise as the regular reports of rapes and other brutal assaults on women indicate.

If that is one facet of our changing society, the other is the changing nature of relationships, with women too becoming educated and working equally alongside men. When couples are both employed, it may naturally lead to friction and consequently, the parameters to determine when such a relationship becomes untenable also change. What is happening is a churning of the society.