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.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to