‘Self-pleasure not forbidden fruit’: Indian court rules wife masturbating, watching porn not grounds for divorce

An Indian court has ruled that wives watching pornography or engaging in self-pleasure and masturbation are not grounds for divorce.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (Mar 19) held that a woman’s sexual autonomy and the fundamental right to privacy includes spousal privacy, rejecting a man’s appeal seeking divorce from his wife.

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A Bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and R Poornima observed that watching porn in private is not an offence. Although the court noted that it may not be morally justifiable as porn portrays women in a degrading manner and it could negatively impact the viewer. However, merely watching porn in private would not amount to marital cruelty.

The court also ruled that the allegation that a wife masturbates is not grounds for divorce, adding that it would be a gross violation of a woman’s sexual autonomy. The court said that when masturbation by a man is acknowledged to be universal, masturbation by woman cannot be stigmatised.

“If after contracting marriage, a woman has sexual relationship outside marriage, it would furnish ground for divorce. However, indulging in self-pleasure cannot be a cause for dissolution of marriage. By no stretch of imagination, can it be said to inflict cruelty on the husband,” the high court said.

The petitioner made several allegations against his wife including that she was a spendthrift, was addicted to watching porn, engaged in masturbation, refused to do household chores, did not treat her in-laws well and engaged in long phone conversations. He also claimed that his wife suffered from a sexually transmitted disease (STD).

The court found that the man did not prove any of the allegations sufficiently and did not have any medical test report for his claim that the woman had STD. The court added that “The other party, even if afflicted with a venereal disease in a communicable form should be given an opportunity to show that he or she was not at fault,” the Court held.

Right to spousal privacy even after marriage

The court further stressed that a woman retains her right to spousal privacy even after marriage, including sexual autonomy.

“When privacy is a fundamental right, it includes within its scope and reach spousal privacy too. The contours of spousal privacy would include various aspects of a woman's sexual autonomy. So long as something does not fall foul of law, the right to express oneself cannot be denied,” the court said.

“Self-pleasure is not a forbidden fruit; its indulgence shall not lead to a precipitous fall from the Eden garden of marriage,” it added. “After marriage, a woman becomes a spouse but she continues to retain her individuality. Her fundamental identity as an individual, as a woman, is not subsumed by her spousal status.”

(With inputs from agencies)