Can a wife file for divorce?

^{Yes. Under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, a wife has the legal right to file a petition for divorce on the same statutory grounds available to a husband, including cruelty, adultery, desertion, conversion, mental disorder, renunciation of the world, and presumption of death, subject to the conditions prescribed under the Act.}

 

^{In addition, Section 13(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 provides certain special grounds exclusively available to a wife. These include situations where the husband has another living wife from a marriage solemnized before the commencement of the Act, where the husband has been guilty of rape, sodomy, or bestiality, where a decree or order for maintenance has been passed and there has been no resumption of cohabitation for the prescribed period, and where the marriage was solemnized before the wife attained the prescribed age and she repudiates the marriage in accordance with the Act.}

^{Where both spouses mutually agree to dissolve the marriage, they may jointly file a petition for divorce by mutual consent under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, subject to the statutory requirements.}