NEW DELHI, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- In a first, a woman in India has divorced her husband because he could not build a toilet in their home even five years after their marriage.
A family court in the western Indian state of Rajasthan's Bhilwara area recently granted the divorce to the 24-year-old woman, saying the absence of a toilet actually amounted to "cruelty" against the wife, local media reported.
"In villages, women have to wait until sunset to answer nature's call. This is not only physical cruelty but also outraging the modesty of a woman," the judge was quoted as saying, while pronouncing the order.
The woman had moved the court in 2015, claiming that her husband failed to construct a toilet in their home since their marriage in 2011 and she had been forced to relieve herself in nearby fields every day, which was nothing but "torture".
In India, women are granted divorce by family courts only if it's proved that she's subject to physical torture or domestic violence. This is the first time that a legal separation has been granted by a court over absence of a toilet at home.
The Indian government has been trying its best to make the country open defecation-free and has set a target to build a toilet in every household by 2019.
