The Delhi High Court has ruled that the wilful denial of a sexual relationship by a spouse amounts to cruelty, upholding a divorce granted to a couple whose marriage failed due to non-consummation. The court stated that marriage without sex is an anathema and that disappointment in the sexual relationship is fatal to a marriage. The court also noted that the wife's resistance to consummation and false dowry harassment allegations constituted cruelty, and the deprivation of conjugal rights over 18 years constituted mental cruelty.