'Cruelty broke up marriage'

In a divorce case filed before High Court judge Rose Ougo in 2012, JO sought to dissolve his marriage from PN on account of cruelty.

The couple had solemnised the marriage at the Attorney General's office but Mr JO opted to call it quits, arguing his wife had taken him through mental and physical cruelty.

In the case, the man stated that his wife had refused to take up her family role by abandoning her home and that she had stopped showing interest in him even though they were married.  He also complained that his wife was cruel to their child.

"The respondent, PN, has totally failed to show love and affection to the petitioner, whom she treats as a stranger and has denied the petitioner his conjugal rights for several months before her sudden flight from home," justice Ougo heard.

In defence, PN told the court it was her man who was the cause of their marital problems. She argued that he was the one  who had told her to leave her matrimonial home. "The petitioner has withdrawn all his emotional support and has reluctantly offered financial support despite the current tough economic environment and has caused her to struggle and strain as she tries to meet the numerous family needs despite being capable of providing for the family," the court heard.

The court also heard the woman had tried to reconcile with the man and did not succeed. She also accused him of infidelity  with a colleague at his work-place.

"I find the marriage has irretrievably broken down as a result of cruelty and desertion and there is no possibility of reconciliation," justice Ougo said in a ruling delivered in April this year.