A couple of years ago, as the story goes, a woman approached the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women accusing her husband of having an extramarital affair, and of neglecting and inflicting mental torture on her and their two minor children. The husband, a serving bureaucrat, appeared before the commission after a long delay, and after protracted negotiations, agreed to his wife’s demand for maintenance and ownership of a part of the property acquired during the period of their marriage. But even before the settlement could be implemented, she allegedly spat on him in a fit of rage one day. The man quickly sought divorce, accusing her of hurting his dignity.