A shocking case highlighting the alleged misuse of maintenance laws has emerged from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where a paralysed man was brought to a family court on a stretcher to counter his wife’s claims that he was faking illness to avoid paying maintenance.
The case is linked to a maintenance petition pending before the Kanpur Family Court. The man, whose identity has been withheld, reportedly suffered a brain haemorrhage five years ago, leaving him completely paralysed and bedridden. He is unable to speak or walk and depends entirely on his family for daily care.
According to the family, the couple’s marriage broke down within a month, after which the wife left the matrimonial home and approached the court seeking maintenance. During this period, the man suffered the haemorrhage that changed his life. However, the wife alleged in court that her husband was healthy, capable of working, and deliberately pretending to be ill to evade his legal responsibility.
Frustrated by these claims, the man’s family decided to present his actual condition before the judge. He was transported from hospital to court in an ambulance and produced before the court on a stretcher. The sight reportedly left many in the courtroom stunned. The family also submitted medical reports, doctors’ certificates and recent photographs confirming his critical condition.
Speaking to the media, the man’s sister said the family had spent the past five years on treatment, physiotherapy and constant care, while the wife never once enquired about his health or offered help. His lawyer said the extraordinary step was necessary to expose false claims and added that the court had taken the matter seriously, ordering a medical examination.
