No indoor toilet proves grounds for divorce

JAIPUR, India - An Indian court has given a woman permission to divorce her husband because their home did not have a toilet, forcing her to seek relief outdoors.

The family court in the northwestern state of Rajasthan ruled on Friday in favor of the woman, who argued that her husband's failure to provide an indoor toilet during their five years of marriage amounted to cruelty.

"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," Justice Rajendra Kumar Sharmawas said.

The judge labeled open defecation - a major health problem in India - disgraceful and deemed it torture to deny women a safe environment for relief, the woman's lawyer Rajesh Sharma said.

Divorce is only granted in India if proof of cruelty, violence or undue financial demands are shown in court.

It is not the first time a toilet has split couples asunder.

Last year, a woman refused to tie the knot in Uttar Pradesh after her fiance refused to build a toilet for the couple. In June, another woman refused to return to the home of her in-laws until they constructed a toilet.

About 70 percent of Indian households do not have access to toilets, although 90 percent have access to mobile phones.

Nearly half of India's population - almost 600 million people - defecate in the open, according to UNICEF.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to build a toilet in every home by 2019 in a bid to stamp out open defecation., and the government says 20 million toilets have been constructed since the plan was rolled out in 2014.

But experts say open defecation not only stems from poverty but a belief that toilets inside the home are unclean.

Afp - Xinhua