Abusive NRI Husband Stole My Salary and Refuses Divorce

I am 39 years female got married to an aerospace engineer based in the USA when I was 34. I have an MBA and 12 years of work experience. Initially, everything was okay, but slowly the control and manipulation began.

From wearing clothes of his choice to changing my accent and even controlling the amount of food I ate-everything was his decision. He even told me to hit the gym for 2 hours every day and reduce my food intake by 50% (I was 53 kg at 5’2″).

I got a job in the US through LinkedIn, and the company transferred my salary to my Indian account until my H1B visa came through. My husband fought with me every day to transfer the salary to his mother’s account because he didn’t trust my parents in India and thought they would steal my salary. I eventually relented just to stop the fighting.

He continued to mentally torture me and refused to do any household chores, saying I should work and handle all the chores and grocery shopping by myself because he had done me a favor by marrying me and that I would get a US visa because of him. Every day, he would fight and yell at me for hours over anything-waking up early or late, reading a novel, working on office tasks over the weekend, or even talking to my mother once a day. Before sleeping, he would show me pictures of fitness models, taunt me about my body, and then proceed to demand sex. When I refused, he would accuse me of having an affair with my own younger brother.

To cut a long story short, when I had to travel urgently to India because of my mother’s bypass surgery, both my MIL and husband told me they wouldn’t allow me to visit my parents more than once a year. They said the next time they would allow me to visit would be after 7-8 years, and my father would have to pay for the flight. They also demanded I stop sending money (15,000 rupees per month) to my parents, claiming that married girls aren’t supposed to help their parents (this was something I had discussed with him before marriage, stating that I had always helped my parents and would continue to do so).

While I was in India, I got laid off (like many others in the tech company), and my husband instantly changed the password and access to my MIL’s bank account, which held my salary (40 lakhs). He transferred every penny to his account and told me to get money for my day-to-day expenses from my father. He even refused to share the wedding expenses, which were supposed to be a joint affair, leaving my father with a 30-lakh debt immediately after his COVID treatment (an additional 20 lakhs).

I decided to file for divorce two years ago. Since then, he has evaded family court hearings and sent a lawyer to quash the FIR. He now says he will give me only 5 lakhs. I’m working in India again and very happy to be apart from him.

Should I keep fighting or just quit and sign the divorce papers? I want him to suffer! I want justice!