Bengaluru: Husband on gay apps, wife seeks divorce

BENGALURU: A software engineer in Bengaluru has sought divorce after she found her husband’s profile on two gay dating apps, reports Petlee Peter. She claimed that they had not consummated their marriage of three years and that he had misled her about his sexual orientation.
In June 2018, Shalini (name changed), working at a tech major in Bengaluru, tied the knot with Vikram (name changed), an employee of a leading private bank. The alliance was arranged by the elders. This was the 31-year-old man’s second marriage.
The couple started residing in Jayanagar after the wedding, but things weren’t rosy for 28-year-old Shalini. Vikram apparently kept away from her, stating that he was struggling with the fact that his first wife had cheated on him. “He shied away from her most of the time, claiming he was heartbroken, and later started to cook up stories, including that he didn’t receive enough dowry,” said a counsellor attached to Parihar, Family Counselling Centre (Women’s Helpline), Basavanagudi police station, who handled the case last month.
On some occasions, the banker drove her away and made some accusations about her. “During last year’s lockdown, she saw him glued to his cellphone and spotted a few apps. As things became worse during the work-from home period the whole of last year, the woman decided to check her husband’s phone activity,” the counsellor said.
Woman alleges cheating, files complaint
During the lockdown this year, the woman combed her husband’s handset and found that he had put up his profile on two dating apps and was chatting with partners. The woman confronted him for not showing interest in the marriage and accused him of portraying her in a bad light in front of their families to hide his sexual orientation.
After the lockdown was lifted, the woman approached the women’s helpline and lodged a cheating complaint. In the counselling sessions that followed, the husband accepted that he had a profile on the apps but denied meeting anyone outside the marriage.
But the woman decided to end the relationship and has now applied for divorce.