An Indian court has granted a woman permission to divorce her husband after he consistently refused to build a toilet in their home, forcing her to relieve herself in the open.

Family court judge Rajendra Kumar Sharma in India’s western Rajasthan state ruled on 18 August that a toilet was a necessity in every home and defecating in the open was ‘disgraceful’ for society and ‘torture’ for women.

“In villages women have to wait until sunset to answer nature's call. This is not only physical cruelty, but also outraging the modesty of a woman” the judge ruled.

People spend money buying tobacco, alcohol and mobile phones, but are unwilling to construct toilets to protect the dignity of their family, he added.

The woman’s counsel said she was married in 2011 to a labourer and filed for divorce four years later citing cruelty by her husband, as he was unable to provide the couple a separate room or a toilet.

Divorce under Indian law is granted once proof of cruelty, violence or undue financial demands are proven in a family court.

Media reports from Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district, where the woman lives, said she would now formally file for divorce.