While adultery is a punishable crime in countries like India, it is not a crime in some of the western countries like France and Germany. Having sexual intercourse with a person other than your own spouse is called adultery. Therefore, in legal parlance adultery may be defined as an extra-marital relationship.
Though adultery may not seem to be a gravest crime, still it sometimes plays havoc in the life of a person by inducing him or her to commit gravest crimes. When we analyse the actual causes for such crimes, they invariably point an accusing finger towards our culture and tradition. In the Indian society in the case of married couple fidelity of a spouse to his or her spouse is always expected and insisted upon.
But in the case of a person who is living in adultery or committing adultery, he or she is always conscious of the fact that he or she is flouting the culture and tradition and fidelity is becoming a casualty. At the same time he or she is afraid of public reprobation apart from the legitimate and strong objection that he or she may encounter from his or her spouse.
Hence, a spouse in the process of committing adultery, when it is known to his or her spouse, naturally expects a violent and recurrent reaction from his or her spouse. To be on guard against such reaction, the spouse who is living in adultery may launch a violent attack against his or her spouse resulting in a gravest crime, sometimes even a murder.
Recently, a Sessions Court at Villupuram, in Tamil Nadu, wherein a murder case was tried, witnessed such a pathetic case. A woman, who was living in adultery with her paramour, killed her husband by pouring kerosene on him, when her husband came to know about her adultery. Unfortunately, the woman's crime was witnessed by her own 7 years old son and 12 years old daughter. Both of them were put into the witness box and they categorically deposed that their mother was living an immoral life and killed their father.
The woman was convicted with life imprisonment and when the news of her punishment was made known to her, she wailed tremendously and repented for what she had done. She also pleaded not guilty for fear of leaving her children uncared for like orphans, when she becomes a life convict.
Now a real question mark hangs over the future of the two of her young children who are not even teens. Hence, when we view adultery in the background of the above case history, it is a heinous crime since it always encourages the commission of yet another horrible crime.
The Indian Penal Code, 1860
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