Italian man granted divorce after claiming wife 'possessed by devil'

The Local
Mon, 10 Apr 2017 00:00 UTC

The woman reportedly hurled a church pew at an altar during one of the episodes.
An Italian man has been granted a divorce after claiming that his wife was "possessed by the devil".

The woman had exhibited "inexplicable behaviour" since 2007, including fits, stiffening, and other "unusual phenomena", a Milan court heard. Her husband attributed the episodes to "demonic possession".

Her sister, as well as a priest and a Capuchin monk confirmed the strange behaviour, testifying that the woman - a devout Catholic - had at one point knocked over a church pew, hurling it towards the altar using just one hand.

Witnesses even claimed to have seen her levitate, before falling to the ground.

The Milan court tribunal acknowledged that the woman was "clearly agitated" but said she "did not act knowingly", according to Il Corriere della Sera daily.

The judge ruled that the incidents couldn't be attributed to an illness, since the woman was judged healthy following by doctors and psychiatrists. Several exorcists had also attempted to cure her over the years, but to no avail.


Comment: According to Sputnik the judge actually stated:

"The woman is not conscious of her actions, but in the grip of an external power"


The couple, who have two children, were eventually granted a no-fault divorce.

Italy had no provision for divorce until 1970 and the difficulties caused by this were the subject of a celebrated 1961 film "Divorce, Italian Style". The comedy features Marcello Mastroianni as a Sicilian noble who cooks up a plot to kill his wife in a crime of passion so he can be free to marry a younger model.

However, legislation which came into force last year made it easier and quicker to end marriages - prompting a 57 percent surge in the divorce rate.

Now only one year of official separation is necessary before couples can begin divorce proceedings, or six months in the case of a separation by mutual consent. Previously, couples had to be officially separated for three years.

Wow, that's pretty freaky. I imagine it must be scary for the kids.

lol scary - and totally cool - for everyone around her...

Halloween must be a great party day for the town.

Yeah, it is actually cool too. I'm pretty fascinated about this kind of stuff. I always wanted to go visit a haunted house and stay for a few days, or hours depending on how friendly the ghost were

That's definitely not cool, I don't wish that on anyone, I don't even know how someone could deal with not being able to help someone that you love because they are possesed ,obviously they tried unsuccessfully on multiple occasions to exercise the demon, that'd be completely terrible to go through.

psst....there are no such things as "demons"....

I never really minded her being possessed.. it was when she would spin her head all the way around and spit the green stuff at me.. that's when I said enough was enough.

she used to do it on purpose.. just to piss me off.

reminds me of the exorcist