A man can now sue for divorce if his wife forcibly separates him from his parents, according to a recent decision by the Calcutta High Court. If the man is forced to live apart from his parents without a valid reason, he may file a suit on the basis of mental cruelty, the High Court reportedly noted.

The court noted this while deliberating a woman’s plea in opposition to a divorce decree issued by a family court.

A division bench made up of justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar dismissed the appeal on March 31, according to a report, claiming that a son living with his parents was “totally natural in Indian culture and ethos.” The High Court was quoted by the newspaper as saying that it was the “pious task of the son to live and sustain the parents.”

Prashant Kumar Mandal and his wife Jharna were granted a divorce by a West Midnapore family court in West Bengal in 2009. The woman appealed the divorce decision made on the basis of cruelty when she appeared before the High Court.

She did not, however, win a favorable decision from the HC.

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