In a recent judgment, Allahabad High Court has ruled that forcing one's husband to live in a separate room within their matrimonial home is an act of cruelty committed by the wife. The ruling of the Court came in a case where the husband sought divorce on the grounds of cruelty and had alleged that his wife compelled him to live in a separate room for years. The Court insisted that marriage is an institution based upon mutual respect, companionship, and cohabitation. Where one spouse, without just cause, compels the other to live separately within the same house, it strikes at the very foundation of the marital relationship. The Court acknowledged such behavior as amounting to mental cruelty-a valid ground for divorce under Indian law. In this case, the husband would further the case that his wife was 'compelling' him to stay in another room thereby denying him marital rights and emotional support as expected in marriage. He said because of these acts, he had suffered a lot mentally, so he needed a dissolution of marriage. The wife opposed the same by pleading that such separation was on health grounds and did not amount to cruelty. The Allahabad High Court, after applying its judicial mind to the evidence led on record, held in favour of the husband. It stated that marriage implies cohabitation; that is, marriage means living together and having a physical, emotional as well as social companionship. Intentional separation in the home by one spouse not only demolishes the relationship but also inflicts psychological hurt on another spouse. The court observed that compelling the spouse to live separately without sufficient reason may indeed amount to cruelty. The Court went on to point out that in matrimonial disputes, testimony by family members is quite crucial. It held that the testimony of relatives cannot be deemed to be unworthy of credit simply because of the relationship. In fact, the Court acknowledged that those who are related to a party are usually the most natural and proximate witnesses to what occurred behind closed doors. Consequently, this is the testimony upon which the Court relies most in establishing the truth in matrimonial disputes. This judgment underlines how the concept of cruelty in marriage is developing upon the evolving perception of the judiciary, from physical violence into psychological and emotional abuse. The Allahabad High Court, therefore, went further in understanding what behaviors could justify a divorce by ruling that forcing a spouse to live separately within the matrimonial home can also be held as cruelty.