The New Taipei City District Court on Thursday approved a petition for divorce by a man who claimed psychological torture due to his now ex-wife’s unsanitary habits.
The plaintiff, who remains unnamed, said that his wife, surnamed Lin (林), only bathed once a year and did not brush her teeth or wash her hair on a regular basis.
The plaintiff said that Lin’s hygiene habits were off-kilter even when they were going out — when she had bathed once a week — but that her behavior worsened after their marriage, as showers, brushing teeth and washing hair were first put off for one month at a time and then half a year.
The man said that due to Lin’s unhygienic habits, they only had sex once a year, which prevented the couple from having children for a decade.
The man said Lin did not have a job, but also dissuaded him from working, asking him instead to stay at home and cook for his father-in-law, who had difficulty moving around.
“I had an opportunity to work as a building security guard,” the man said, adding that Lin said it was demeaning work and forbade him to take the job.
Lin said that after her father obtained the rights to start a lottery store they could do that for a living, but the man said his father-in-law never managed to draw the lucky straw.
“We remained poor, as neither of us had a job,” the man said, adding that he was even unable to pay his National Health Insurance contribution and could not afford to visit a dentist.
The man said their daily expenses were paid using what little money his wife had been able to get from his mother-in-law.
The man said he moved out of the house and found a job in Hsinchu in late 2015, but finally decided to file for divorce when his wife showed up at his new job demanding that he quit after earning only one month’s salary.
Her husband lied about their relationship, Lin said, adding that her parents had treated him like a son.
She had opposed a divorce and had visited her husband at his job because he had been unwilling to return her calls, Lin said.
The man’s father said he had not known that the situation was so dire until his son complained a year ago that he was unable to work.
Lin’s mother periodically gave her daughter and son-in-law money because the couple was without jobs for many years, she said, adding that she did not wish to continue subsidizing their living expenses.
The couple was at odds over work, family chores and hygiene, the court said, adding that as the two had been separated for about two years, it was evident that the marriage was not going to work.
The judge granted the divorce, but the ruling can still be appealed.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and