A 70-something retired teacher has been ordered by the Nanhui People's Court to pay his wife 400 yuan (US$48) a month for being unfaithful to her, Shanghai Morning Post reports.

Zhang and his wife had been married for more than 40 years before he retired in 1992 and took a part-time job in downtown Shanghai to continue to support the family.

However, Zhang did not give his pension or the money he earned to his wife, a retired farmer, after Zhang started seeing a migrant woman.

Zhang abandoned his wife and left their home after she refused to grant him a divorce.

As a husband and wife are obliged to support each other, and Zhang is fully capable of providing financial assistance to his wife, who has no other income at all, the court ordered Zhang to pay for his indiscretions on a monthly basis.

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