Couple sue son and daughter-in-law for ‘failing to provide a grandchild’

A couple in India are taking legal action against their son and his wife, accusing the younger couple of inflicting “mental cruelty” on them by not producing a grandchild.

Sanjeev Prasad, 61, and his wife Sadhana, 57, say their son Shrey Sagar and his wife Shubhangi Sinha should pay them $650,000 if the couple does not give them a grandchild within a year, according to the BBC.

The older couple, who live in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, told the Times of India that the sum is what they spent on Shrey, who is now 35. This includes a $65,000 bill for Shrey’s pilot training in the US in 2006 and a luxury car gifted during their nuptials.

“I have only one son. I spent all my savings on his upbringing and education,” Sanjeev Prasad told the Times of India. “He returned to India in 2007 due to the economic
recession
abroad. He had lost his job and could not find another for over two years. I supported him financially during this period as well.”

He added that he arranged a marriage for his son with Shubhangi, now 31 after the younger man finally secured a job. However, he accused a couple of “immense mental harassment” by not giving them a child despite being married for six years now.

Sanjeev Prasad said the young couple lives in separate states because of work, and that their daughter-in-law doesn’t stay with them, which has “added to (their) sufferings” and caused the older couple “immense pain.”

The couple’s lawyer, AK Srivastava, told local news outlet ANI News that the case “portrays the truth of society.”

“We invest in our children, make them capable of working in good firms. Children owe their parents basic financial care,” the lawyer said, adding that the pair either wanted a grandchild within a year, or monetary compensation.

Srivastava also told The National that the older couple was suing “because of mental cruelty”.

“It is a dream of every parent to become a grandparent,” the lawyer said. “They had been waiting for years to become grandparents.”

The BBC reported that the Prasads’ court petition has a court date for May 17.

Some Indian couples have faced immense pressure from family members to produce children. Some Indian mothers have also in the past reported experiencing physical abuse for not producing a male heir and having a daughter instead.