Dark-skinned women targeted with fairness creams; society's attitude must change: Chhattisgarh High Court

Dark-skinned women are often portrayed as insecure, and unable to achieve success until someone hands them a fairness cream and this outlook needs to change, observed the Chhattisgarh High Court recently. .A bench of Justices Goutam Bhaduri and Deepak Kumar Tiwari made the observation while dealing with a matrimonial dispute in which the wife alleged that she had been subjected to cruelty by her husband on account of her dark skin tone.The Court emphasized the need for a societal shift, starting with how these things are talked about at home, to eradicate discrimination based on skin colour.The Court noted that dark skinned persons are not viewed as favourably as lighter-skinned counterparts and that even the cosmetics industry, therefore, targets women with "skin-lightening" products. "They are likely to portray a dark-skinned woman as an under confident and insecure person who is unable to secure success in life until someone suggest the use of a fairness cream. Entire society of the human race needs to change the dialogue at home, which may not promote the fairness preference of skin (sic)," the Court's order stated. .The Court was hearing an appeal filed by a man who challenged the family court's decision to dismiss his divorce application.The husband claimed that his wife had abandoned him and refused to return to the marital home despite his earnest attempts. Additionally, he asserted that, without any apparent cause, his wife had initiated legal proceedings for maintenance after deserting him. He further alleged that his wife had been cruel to him. .On the other hand, the wife contended that she had experienced mistreatment and cruelty at the hands of her husband, leading to her expulsion from their matrimonial home. She claimed that her husband verbally abused her and ridiculed her dark skin colour. She also alleged that she was subjected to physical assault during her pregnancy and that the husband wanted to remarry another person owing to the wife's dark skin tone. .After considering the rival arguments and witness testimony on record, the Court opined that the wife's version of events appeared to be more logical..The Court added that the husband cannot be given an incentive to promote the societal preference of light skin over a dark and dismissed his plea for a divorce. "After cumulative reading of the evidence, we are of the view that no ground of cruelty or desertion has been made out by the husband to get the decree of divorce which are under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955," the Court held..Advocate Sumit Shrivastava appeared for the appellant (husband).Advocate Md Ruhul Ameen Memon appeared for the respondent (wife)..[Read Order]