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has been invited to the statement in Rayden on Divorce, 11th
Edn. Page 223 with regard to the elements of desertion
According to that statement for the offence of desertion there
must be two elements present on the side of the deserting
spouse namely, the factum, i.e. physical separation and the
animus deserendi i.e. the intention to bring cohabitation
permanently to an end. The two elements present on the side
of the deserted spouse should be absence of consent and
absence of conduct reasonably causing the deserting spouse to
form his or her intention to bring cohabitation to an end. The
requirement that the deserting spouse must intend to bring
cohabitation to an end must be understood to be subject to the
qualification that if without just cause or excuse a man
persists in doing things which he knows his wife probably will
not tolerate and which no ordinary woman would tolerate and
then she leaves, he has deserted her whatever his desire or
intention may have been. The doctrine of "constructive
desertion" is discussed at page 229. It is stated that desertion
is not to be tested by merely ascertaining which party left the
matrimonial home first. If one spouse is forced by the conduct
of the other to leave home, it may be that the spouse
responsible for the driving out is guilty of desertion. There is
no substantial difference between the case of a man who
intends to cease cohabitation and leaves the wife and the case
of a man who with the same intention compels his wife by his
conduct to leave him."