Supreme Court Hears Husband's Divorce Plea Alleging "Wife Is Not Female"

The Supreme Court has issued a notice to a wife on the husband's plea seeking divorce on the ground that he has been cheated as the medical history of his spouse did not reveal she was not a 'female'.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh on Friday asked the wife to file a reply to the husband's petition challenging a Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court order dated 29-07-2021.

"Learned counsel for the petitioner has drawn our attention inter alia to page 39 to contend that the medical history of the respondent shows "Penis + Imperforate hymen" thus respondent is not a female. Issue notice returnable in four weeks," the court said.

The man has challenged judgment dated 29 July 2021 passed by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Bench at Gwalior whereby Trial Court's order dated 6 May 2019 taking cognizance against respondent that was set aside and the private complaint filed by the petitioner (man) was dismissed on the ground that, only on the basis of oral evidence and sans any medical evidence, no offence under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 is made out.

The petition filed through advocate Praveen Swarup said that the man and woman's marriage was solemnized in July 2016. The petition said that after solemnization of marriage, the wife did not consummate for a few days on the pretext that she is undergoing a menstrual cycle and thereafter she left the matrimonial house and returned after a period of 6 days.

The petition also said that later when the husband again tried to consummate, he found that there was no presence of vaginal opening and she had a small penis, like a child. Post this discovery, the petitioner took his wife for a medical check-up, where it was diagnosed that she has a medical problem called 'Imperforate hymen' (A medical condition in which hymen covers the whole opening of the vagina), the petition said.

The petition further mentioned that the woman was advised to undergo surgical repair but the doctor also told the petitioner that even if an artificial vagina is created through surgery, consummation may take place but the chances of getting pregnant are close to impossible. After this medical examination, the petitioner felt cheated and called up the father of his wife, to take his daughter back.

According to the petition, the woman underwent surgery and then returned to her husband's house after the woman's father allegedly forcibly entered the man's house threatened him to keep his daughter at his house.

The man later filed a complaint before local police and a petition in court seeking a divorce.