Taiwan man divorces wife for only bathing once a year

Because of his wife’s terrible personal hygiene habits, the couple also only had sex once a year

Having some relationship problems? Just be thankful you’re not this Taiwanese man who filed for divorce last week, arguing that, among other problems, his wife’s reluctance to take a shower was preventing them from having sex and starting a family.

The man told a New Taipei City court that his wife had subjected him to a form of “psychological torture” by refusing to regularly brush her teeth and wash her hair, even going so far as to bathe only once a year, reports the Taipei Times.

Allegedly, when they were dating, the woman, surnamed Lin, would only take a bath or shower once a week. After they tied the knot, her personal hygiene habits only gradually grew worse to the point that a decade later bathing was just a once in a year occasion — which would take six hours and clog up the drain with filth, the man claimed.

As you might expect, this put something of a damper on the couple’s love life with the man claiming that they would also only have sex once a year (presumably directly following that long-awaited shower). With opportunities for lovemaking few and far between, they did not have any kids.

However, differences in the importance placed on hygiene is not the only issue that the couple has failed to work through. The plaintiff also alleges that his wife deterred him from finding and keeping a job, arguing that he should instead stay home and help take care of her sick father.

Lin also didn’t work, meaning that the couple was reliant on her mother for money, on which they eeked out a meager, smelly, and sexless existence.

Finally, in 2015, after 13 years of marriage, the man got fed up and moved to the city of Hsinchu, where he found a job. One month later, his wife arrived, demanding that he quit his job and move back home, causing him to start divorce proceedings.

Lin vehemently denied her husbands accusations, but, after hearing the case, the court agreed that the couple’s differences were irreconcilable. Noting that they had already been separated for two years, the court granted the divorce.

More than 50,000 Taiwanese marriages end in divorce each year, some for better reasons than others.

Back in 2014, one man made headlines after filing to divorce his wife because she had become so addicted to her smartphone that she neglected to do household chores or take care of the kids, while, last year, a woman divorced her husband for ignoring her messages on the social media app Line, providing evidence of that fact in court.