• Wife threatens to leave the house or do something to herself

I have been married for 3 yrs now and both me and my wife are educated working professionals. Een since the marriage my wife has not been able to adjust to the family culture where she has to take care of the family and also work. While this was agreed upon before marriage, where i had clearly called out to her that i will not leave my family and that we will be living with them.
She has been acting out and has been very disrespectful towards me and my parents and after numerous discussions and possible attempts to talk to her and understand and change my life around for her benefit things have not improved. I had even reached out to her parents and sisters , where i had taken her to her sisters place and we had talked, where her parents and family listned to both sides of the story and i was told that she will now get better and not raise her voice and act in a mature manner.

Off late things have been very bad, she is irritable and has been constantly talking down to me for no apparent reason and this recently led to a verbal argument, where after i asked her if she wants to calmly talk about the problem responded by saying she wont and when i said then i need to talk to your parents she threatened by saying that either she will leave the house without anyone knowing or do something crazy and bad.

Please advise me what can i do from a legal standpoint to protect myself in case she does somethings crazy or files for divorce (eventually). Would it make sense to lodge a FIR with the police to safeguard me and my family? as the laws are in favor of women and i feel that in her state of mind she might use that to her advantage.
Asked 9 years ago in Family Law
Religion: Sikh

Ask a question and receive multiple answers in one hour.

Lawyers are available now to answer your questions.

8 Answers

1. Your have stated "my wife has not been able to adjust to the family culture where she has to take care of the family and also work",

2. If you claim before the Court that this is the culture of your family, then the court will take on to you heavily,

3. A working lady can not take care of both sides with ease and you can not force her to adopt to your culture legally since she is an adult having same civil and constitutional rights like you and she is not demanding that you should change as per the culture of her family,

4. However, you shall have to understand about the above gross erroneous understanding about wife's duties and responsibilities before you embark up on taking any legal step against her,

5. Her agitation may be the result of your such unreasonable expectation from herself,

6. Talk to her and get the disagreement settled amicably since divorce is the 2nd most stressful event in one's life and you never know whether your next wife, if any, will be any better,

7. If she acts cruelly against you or misbehaves, record her such act/conversations by audio/vedio taping,

8. If the dispute reaches serious proportion, lodge a police complaint against her about her such threats,

9. If you decide for divorce, talk to her amicably and go for mutual consent divorce,

10. Handle the matter witrh extreme care since such cases have the tendency to go out of control on slightest provocation from either side.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27191 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1/) your wife needs psychiatrist treatment

2) she must be suffering from mental illness

3) her threats to commit suicide / leave the matrimonial home without any provocation is manifestation of some illness

4) next time she threatens to commit suicide record the conversation .

5) lodge police complaint that your wife constantly threatens to commit suicide so that in case she eventually takes her own life you would not be blamed

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94523 Answers
7485 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Do intermittently inform the local police about her activities.

2. Have a free and frank discussion about future of your relationship. If the relationship is not feasible then try to amicable settlement by way of mutual divorce.

3. if she does not agree m you can not force her nor stop her from lodging complaint with local police.

4.Do npt her scared of the case. If the case is registered then apply for bail which should be easily obtained.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22779 Answers
484 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

It is recommended that you should visit your nearest Police Station and file a complaint giving the finer details of argument you have had with your wife in which she has threatened you for running away from the house and or filing false cases against u.

Please keep a received copy of complaint safely in your records.

Moving further in case your wife leaves home and goes to her parents place without any delay file a suit of restitution of conjugal rights u/s 9 Hindu Marriage Act. It is also recommended not to think of or file for divorce for such petty things.

Atulay Nehra
Advocate, Noida
1308 Answers
58 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hi, it is normal wear and tear of your in married life and it is my suggestion both of you go for a marriage counselor so that both of you can settled your issue amicably.

2. Don't go for filing complaint against your wife and it will increase your problem and it will become bad to worst.

3. Suppose if she files a complaint then only contest the case and police will not arrest you immediately and you have time to apply for anticipatory bail.

Pradeep Bharathipura
Advocate, Bangalore
5604 Answers
335 Consultations

4.5 on 5.0

Hi,

Without delay you file a complain with the police in the nearest police station giving details of threat and your apprehensions. Keep on informing her parents and close relatives about the situation in writing. Discuss with her about mutual consent divorce and contact a local lawyer for that purpose. If she doesn't want to stay with you then mutual consent divorce is the best solution.

Rajni Sinha
Advocate, Mumbai
425 Answers
39 Consultations

4.6 on 5.0

Dear Querist

immediately send an information cum complaint before higher authorities like National Commission for women, Commissioner of Police, Chief Justice of High Court regarding the matter and your apprehensions.

this information cum complaint should only be for the record and not for any action against her.

if she do any act or file any false cases against you then these information cum complaint will help you to safe you and your family.

you may also file a complaint before district mediation center and pray for mediation with the help of the mediator of your area and elders and relatives this marriage can be saved and it may be possible that she changed herself after the involvement of the mediator/marriage counselor.

Nadeem Qureshi
Advocate, New Delhi
6307 Answers
302 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

1. No FIR can be filed at this stage against your wife as she has not done anything which can be termed as illegal.

2. If she files for divorce then you can contest it.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Ask a Lawyer

Get legal answers from lawyers in 1 hour. It's quick, easy, and anonymous!
  Ask a lawyer