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9. Before adverting to the ailment and related behaviour of the wife and the claim for divorce on the ground of cruelty, we shall advert to some of the precedents of the Apex Court. The Apex Court in Vinitha Saxena v. Pankaj Pandit [2006 (2) KLT 150 (SC)] adverted to cruel behaviour attributable to Schizophrenia and concluded at para.18 as follows:

18. The appellant filed a petition for divorce under S.13(1)(i-a) and (iii) of the Act on the ground of mental and physical cruelty. It is also her case that on account of Paranoid Schizophrenia that the respondent was suffering from, the appellant could not be reasonably expected to live with the respondent.

The Apex Court also adverted to the disease schizophrenia and its causes at paras.22 to 25 as follows:

A RESEARCH ON THE DISEASE "Schizophernia is one of the most damaging of all mental disorders. It causes its victims to lose touch with reality. They often begin to hear, see or feel things that aren't really there (hallucinations) or become convinced of things that simply aren't true (delusions). Mat. Appeal Nos.971/2017 & 1146/2018 In the paranoid form of this disorder, they develop delusions of persecution or personal grandeur. The first signs of paranoid schizophrenia usually surface between the ages of 15 and 34. There is no cure, but the disorder can be controlled with medications. Severe attacks may require hospitalization."

10. In Shrikant Anandrao Bhosale v. State of Maharashtra [(2002) 7 SCC 748] the Apex Court at paras 10 and 11 referred to about paranoid schizophrenia as follows:

10. What is paranoid schizophrenia, when it starts, what are its characteristics and dangers flowing from this ailment? Paranoid schizophrenia, in the vast majority of cases, starts in the fourth decade and develops insidiously. Suspiciousness is the characteristic symptom of the early stage. Ideas of reference occur, which gradually develop into delusions of persecution. Auditory hallucinations follow, which in the beginning, start as sounds or noises in the ears, but afterwards change into abuses or insults. Delusions are at first indefinite, but gradually they become fixed and definite, to lead the patient to believe that he is persecuted by some unknown person or some superhuman agency. He believes that his food is being poisoned, some noxious gases are blown into his room, and people are plotting against him to ruin him. Disturbances of general sensation give rise to hallucinations, which are attributed to the effects of hypnotism, electricity, wireless telegraphy or atomic agencies. The patient gets very irritated and excited owing to these painful and disagreeable hallucinations and delusions. Since so many people are against him and are interested in his ruin, he comes to believe that he must be a very important man. The nature of delusions thus may change from persecutory to the grandiose type. He entertains delusions of grandeur, power and wealth, and generally conducts himself in a haughty and overbearing manner. The patient usually retains his memory and orientation and does not show signs of insanity, until the conversations is directed to the particular type of delusion from which he is suffering. When delusions affect his behaviour, he is often a source of Mat. Appeal Nos.971/2017 & 1146/2018 danger to himself and to others. (Modi's Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology (22nd Edn.)).

11. Further, according to Modi, the cause of schizophrenia is still not known but hereditary plays a part. The irritation and excitement are effects of illness. On delusion affecting behaviour of a patient, he is a source of danger to himself and to others.

11. It is to be noted that, in the case in hand, the wife had never admitted or accepted her ailment of schizophrenia. She, in fact, had put up a case that it was her husband, who took her to the hospital to attribute mental illness. We have gone through the deposition of the Doctor, who was examined as RW2. The treatment was in the year 2010. The case for divorce was filed only in the year 2013. As seen from the medical records, she was taken to the hospital by her maternal uncle. The Doctor had also spoken to her mother. She disclosed to the Doctor that the wife was also treated at St.Gregorius Hospital, Parumala, on an earlier occasion. The medical records and testimony of the Doctor would show that the husband and family had no role in taking the wife to the hospital. Paranoid schizophrenia is a mental illness. The Mat. Appeal Nos.971/2017 & 1146/2018 literature on this which is available online would show that the patient would show up in different ways at different times; and they are unreasonably suspicious of others.( 1) These patients carry delusions as fixed beliefs and feel that those are real to him or her. In the light of the medical evidence, we need not disbelieve the oral testimony of the husband in regard to the suspicion she had on the fidelity of the husband. We also need not to disbelieve the oral testimony of the husband narrating wife's conduct towards his mother. In fact, the wife failed to prove cruelty by the husband or his mother. The Court cannot grant divorce merely based on the ailment of one's spouse. However, when a spouse refuses to acknowledge ailment and treatment, the Court has to view seriously of such stand of the spouse. It is not a case where one was prepared to undergo treatment and come out of the ailment. It is a case where one prefers to suppress the ailment 1 https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-paranoia viewed on 9/9/2021 Mat. Appeal Nos.971/2017 & 1146/2018 and raises counter allegations as against the other spouse without any reason.