In what is suspected to be an extreme case of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a 35-year-old woman washed her techie-husband’s laptop & cellphone with detergent & kept him & their children away from home for thirty days to ‘deep clean’ the house after her mother passed away.
Fed up with his wife’s extreme hygiene habits that allegedly worsened after the Covid outbreak, the husband walked out on his wife, who approached the police. With mediation efforts failing, the husband now wants a divorce.
RT Nagar residents Sandhya & Girish (names changed) tied the knot in 2009 in an arranged marriage. The newlyweds flew to England where the husband, a software professional with an IT giant, had an on-site assignment, & began their new life.
The MBA graduate kept their London home spick & span, much to her husband’s delight. “But things started to turn ugly after their first child was born two years later. The husband started getting irritated after she repeatedly forced him to clean his shoes, clothes & cellphone every time he returned from work,” said BS Saraswathi, senior counsellor with Parihar, Vanitha Sahayavani (women’s helpline) of Bengaluru city police, who handled the couple’s case at Malleswaram police station.
After returning from the United Kingdom, the couple underwent family counselling sessions & things started to get better & their second son was born.
Covid escalated situation
When the pandemic struck, Sandhya’s OCD allegedly worsened & she began washing & sanitising everything in the house, including spoons, floormats & even home appliances. “During the lockdown, the husband was working from home & to his shock, she washed his work laptop & cellphone. In his complaint, the husband has stated that she bathes more than six times a day & even has one exclusive soap to clean her bathing soap,” Saraswathi added.
Sandhya’s mother passed away last year following prolonged illness. After that, she forced her husband & children to stay out of home & went on a deep-cleaning spree for 30 days. “The tipping point for him came recently after she forced her children to wash their school uniforms, shoes & bags after they returned home every day. He then left for his parents’ place & took both his children along, while she approached police,” the counsellor said. The children are now 11 & 9.
Police referred the matter to Parihar. Three counselling sessions in November were in vain. Suspecting it to be case of extreme OCD, the counsellor suggested the woman seek help, but she said she was fine & termed her hygiene habits ‘normal’.
Woman to lodge plaint against husband
The husband is now set to seek divorce. According to Rani Shetty, head of Parihar, due process is under way & a final report has been issued to the woman, who now plans to lodge a police complaint against her husband for harassing her by terming her behaviour abnormal.
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