Why Indian women must shun sex to claim alimony

Justice Nagamuthu's ruling that to claim alimony, a woman must maintain "discipline" - in other words, remain celibate - even after her divorce has kicked up a hornet's nest in India.
Indian law denies alimony to a wife "living in adultery".
The high court order said that since a ruling by the Family Court which had initially granted the divorce had accepted that the woman, identified as Kanimozhi in court documents, was adulterous, she was clearly not entitled to any maintenance from her ex-husband.
But the ruling also has wider implications - since the judge, in his order, goes on to insist that even after a divorce is granted a woman must continue to shun sex if she is to retain her right to maintenance.
"Even after a decree for divorce is granted, if the wife wants to retain her right to claim maintenance from her former husband, she is expected to continue to maintain the same discipline, as she was expected to maintain during her marital ties, after the snapping of the marital ties also," Justice Nagamuthu wrote in the order.
"In other words, during the subsistence of the marriage, the wife cannot live in adultery and in the event she lives in adultery, she loses her right to claim maintenance from her husband; similarly, even after the divorce, if she continues to maintain the same discipline, she will continue to retain the right to claim maintenance from her former husband.
"If she commits any breach of the said obligation and starts living in adultery, that is, having sexual relationship with another man, she will lose her right to claim maintenance," he said.
An Indian couple kissing (file photo)