A man has filed a first information report (FIR) against his wife on charges of extortion and cheating after she demanded more alimony and threatened not to give him divorce if he did not cough up the extra amount.

The husband, a software engineer, approached the Borivli magistrate court with a private complaint, based on which the magistrate ordered the Kandivli police to lodge a complaint. The FIR was registered on April 9 under sections 385 (extortion) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, and further investigations are on.

He had married her in 2013, after meeting her through a matrimonial website. A few months into the marriage, the husband alleges, she started speaking very arrogantly and quarrelling over petty issues; she had smoking and drinking habits, he says.Further, she did not tend to his ailing father, he claimed; she also refused to co-habit with him in a chawl and asked for a separate house in Mumbai.

He claims she allegedly threatened to implicate him in a domestic violence case, and demanded Rs2 lakh as permanent alimony, saying she'd agree to a divorce by mutual consent after a year if he did that. He paid her the sum, and signatures were obtained on a stamp paper with regard to a declaration-and-mutual consent deed.

Last year, when he sent her emails reminding her to file for divorce, she did not respond. The husband then sent her a legal notice, after which her uncle called him up and allegedly demanded Rs8 lakh to sign the divorce papers. The husband then approached the police but no case was registered. He then went to the Vaastav Foundation seeking help to file a case. Subsequently, the private complaint was filed with magistrate, who ordered filing of the FIR.

Amit Deshpande, president of the foundation, said, "We have had cases of women misusing laws to get alimony but it cannot be a moral way to get divorce. Laws should be set in motion only when there is a case of dowry harassment, and should not be used as an extortion tool."As for the woman, she has filed a domestic violence case against him and his family members in Pune.

She also filed an interim maintenance application, after he filed a divorce petition on the grounds of cruelty. Both the petitions are pending in the Bandra family court.