Not providing toilet amounts to cruelty says court while granting divorce

We spend money on buying tobacco, liquor and mobile phones, but are unwilling to construct toilets to protect the dignity of our family .

A family court granted a woman divorce while observing that not providing a toilet amounted to cruelty. The lady filed for divorce on the ground that her husband had refused to construct a toilet despite repeated requests.

A family court in Bhilwara observed that the husband's actions amounted to cruelty. Married in 2011, the woman moved the court in 2015, saying that despite repeated requests, her husband didn't construct a toilet or bathroom at home, forcing her to defecate and bathe in the open.

She also had to wait until dusk to go out to the fields to relieve herself, which she felt undermined her dignity. But her husband said he found his wife's demand for a toilet unusual as most women in his village defecate in the open. The woman's family hadn't raised the issue of toilet construction at the time of marriage, he said.

"We spend money on buying tobacco, liquor and mobile phones, but are unwilling to construct toilets to protect the dignity of our family. 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 court said.

OneIndia News