A court declared a marriage null after it heard how the woman was still a virgin eight years after the wedding and how her husband had no interest in sex.

In a sworn affidavit, the woman said her husband acted half-heartedly whenever it came to their sexual relationship. She said they were only ‘intimate’ once a month – always on a Sunday at around 10pm – and there was no intercourse. Their encounters would only last a couple of minutes. The woman said this traumatized her greatly and she would spend the night crying.

The court heard how the couple had wed after a short relationship. They had attended the Cana Course “automatically and without enthusiasm.” During their courtship they were always accompanied by her parents and never spent any time alone. This was one of the reasons, according to her, why they did not really get to know each other.

They wed in 2000 but their marriage was never consummated, not even during their honeymoon. Upon returning to Malta the man did not want to go to their marital home, but preferred going to his parents’ instead.

After seven and a half years the couple had paid off their mortgage and the woman felt she was ready to have children. They attended the family planning course but the husband would say that he was busy with work as an excuse not to have intercourse with his wife. The woman told the court she had even asked her husband to try IVF but he would have none of it.

She said the relationship was strained and lacking of love, despite the fact that she “did everything for him.” This included driving him to work and picking him up. The husband did not appreciate any of this and would allegedly tell her that it was “nothing special” and “what a woman was supposed to do.

The court heard how, as a last resort, the woman went to speak to a marriage counsellor. There it was established that the husband needed psychiatric help. He suffered from fixations and was a perfectionist and this rendered the relationship impossible.

The woman said she had suffered psychologically and emotionally. In her words the husband refused to take responsibility and decisions. In fact his father had accompanied him to every separation meeting.

A doctor told the court that the couple was fertile but the sexual act was not being carried out as it should be.

The woman’s mother said her husband had a fixation on village festas and statues and nothing more. He lived a life of his own and was unable to shoulder the responsibilities that came with marriage.

After considering all the evidence, the court accepted the woman’s request and declared the marriage null.