Goa, March 20 -- The Madras High Court recently ruled that masturbation and pornography viewing by a spouse cannot be considered cruelty in marriage, protecting women's sexual autonomy and privacy rights. The court addressed a man's request for divorce due to his wife's frequent masturbation and pornography consumption, ruling that such actions, when private and not affecting marital duties, do not constitute cruelty.

Justices GR Swaminathan and R Poornima emphasized that viewing pornography privately is not illegal and cannot be grounds for divorce, provided it does not violate any laws or harm the marriage. They highlighted that spousal privacy is protected under the right to privacy, and infringing upon a woman's sexual autonomy would...