SHIMLA, March 30: In an unusual set of matrimonial cases from Himachal Pradesh’s Theog subdivision, a family court in Shimla has granted divorce to two 75-year-old women who had separately sought to end their marriages with younger husbands through mutual consent petitions. The two matters, both placed before the Principal Judge of the Family Court in Shimla, were recently allowed after the court concluded that reconciliation was no longer possible.
According to court details reported in the matter, one petition involved a 75-year-old woman and her 59-year-old husband, while the second involved another 75-year-old woman and her 39-year-old husband. In both cases, the husband and wife jointly approached the court and stated that they no longer wished to continue their marital relationship.
What makes the cases unusual is not just the age gap, but the stage of life at which both marriages formally came to an end. Yet the court proceedings themselves were not treated as sensational matters, but as straightforward family disputes in which both sides had already been living apart and had reached a settlement on future arrangements.
One Marriage Dated Back to 1990, Another Had Three Children
In the first case, the 75-year-old woman and her 59-year-old husband told the court that they had married in 1990 and had no children. Their petition said serious differences began surfacing around 2010, and despite attempts by respected persons and others to mediate, the dispute could not be resolved. Both eventually agreed that the marriage should be dissolved.
The second petition involved a 75-year-old woman and her 39-year-old husband. According to the case record, the two were married in 2008 and have three children. The couple told the court that they had been living separately since June 2021 after disputes arose between them and that there was no possibility of the relationship being restored.
After examining both petitions and affidavits submitted by the parties, the court held that there was no realistic scope for reconciliation and accepted the mutual consent divorce pleas. In the second case, it was also agreed that all three children would remain with the father, while the mother would continue to have access to meet them.
Court Also Recorded Maintenance and Living Support Terms
The first case also included a detailed settlement on post-divorce support. The 59-year-old husband agreed before the court that he would pay ₹5,000 per month from his pension towards the maintenance of his divorced wife. He also agreed to provide her with a room, kitchen and bathroom for residence.
The court record further noted that if the woman falls ill, the husband would also bear the cost of essential primary medical treatment. These terms were part of the understanding placed before the court through affidavits submitted by both sides.
While the cases have drawn attention because of the age of the couples involved, they also underline something more basic: family disputes and marital breakdowns do not follow a fixed age or social pattern. In both cases, the court treated the matter as one of mutual consent and settlement — not conflict for conflict’s sake, but a legal closure to relationships that both sides said had already broken down beyond repair.
