The Madras High Court has ruled that forcing or attempting to convert a spouse to another religion without their consent constitutes violence and mental cruelty.

A division bench of Justices N Seshasayee and L Victoria Gowri of the Madurai bench also held that in inter-faith marriages, compelling a spouse to convert to another religion to which the other spouse belongs will amount to the breach of their fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution.

“A matrimony, which commenced with love and affection when it struggles to proceed with twists and turns by the beloved husband's attitude of compelling the Hindu wife to convert to Islam by renaming her as Salima from Devi and further compelling her to completely abandon her beliefs which she has been following from birth by heart, thereby putting her on crossroads for the purpose of proselytization, would amount to abject cruelty. Forcible conversion means violence,” the High Court said.

Case Brief:

In the said matter, the Court was hearing an appeal by a Muslim man challenging a trial court’s decision to dissolve his marriage with a Hindu woman, which was solemnized under the Special Marriage Act. 

The wife had sought dissolution before the family court, alleging mental and physical abuse, cruelty, and desertion. She also claimed that her husband taunted her over her religion and caste and pressured her to convert to Islam. 

Upholding the trial court’s decision, the High Court ruled that there was sufficient evidence of violence and the husband's attempts to forcibly convert his wife, justifying the dissolution of the marriage.

“The conduct inflicted by the appellant on the respondent wife had caused grave mental pain and suffering to the respondent wife compelling her to convert to Islam shattering her belief system and damaging her conscience, which in due course of time had evolved into a challenge to her life and personal liberty to live up to her conscience and belief system. Hence, we are of the considered opinion that this is a fit case for grant of divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion as well, categorically holding that not only conversion, but also effort to proselytize a spouse to the religion of another without their consent is nothing, but absolute violence,” the High Court said.

"When two hearts fell in love and decide to live in unison by committing them to the relationship of marriage, they expect their mutual space to prevail all through their lives, following their own system of beliefs and their own way of socio-cultural traditions. In a love marriage, a woman marries her beloved only with a fond hope that her space will not be invaded and that her privacy will never be curtailed and her belief system will be appreciated, acknowledged and respected."

The Court further held that forcibly converting a spouse in an interfaith marriage constitutes a denial of their right to freedom of religion under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution.  

It noted that the Special Marriage Act, 1954, does not recognize religious conversion as a ground for marriage. However, the key issue to consider was whether forcing a spouse to convert amounts to cruelty. 

Observing that the man had started living at his sister’s house a few years into the marriage, the Court concluded that he had deserted his wife. 

Additionally, the Court found that the husband's actions inflicted severe mental pain and suffering on the wife, as she was compelled to relinquish her personal liberty and compromise her conscience and beliefs.