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A high court in India has ruled that a divorced woman can only continue receiving financial support from her ex-husband if she remains faithful to him and never has sex with another man. a woman having sex with another man and yet collecting money from her ex after divorce was virtually the same as adultery and fraud because the new man
is meant to provide for her.
Justice S Nagamuthu ruled that a woman seeking alimony, should 'maintain discipline as she was expected to maintain during the subsistence of her marriage'. In lay language, he seemed to be suggesting that post-divorce, a woman would not be entitled to maintenance from her former husband if she has sexual relations with any other man.
The court also added that if she has entered a live-in relationship with another man, the latter should be held responsible for her upkeep. The Hindu quotes from the ruling, "If she commits breach… she will suffer disqualification from claiming maintenance… If she wants to live in relationship with another man, she may be entitled for maintenance from him and not from the former husband."
The Times reports the judge as saying:
Even after a decree for divorce is granted, if the wife wants to retain her right to claim maintenance from her former husband,she is expected to continue to maintain the same discipline as she was expected to maintain during her marital ties.
Since the man carries the obligation to maintain his divorced wife, the woman also carries the obligation not to live in a relationship with another man.
If she commits a breach, she will suffer disqualification from claiming maintenance. If she wants to live in a relationship with another man, she may be entitled for maintenance from him and not from the former husband.