Rome, April 8: An Italian court has accepted a man's request to divorce his wife because she is possessed by the devil, after hearing evidence that she hovered in the air and hurled a church pew at an altar with one hand.

In its groundbreaking ruling, the Milan court said it could offer no alternative explanation to demonic possession, stating the woman showed no signs of madness and was not responsible for the "inexplicable phenomena" she was subject to.

The court heard how the unnamed wife, a committed Catholic, began to suffer from "devastating compulsive behaviour" in 2007, and needed to be held down when hit by convulsions, reported Italy's Corriere della Sera.

Attending church, she would writhe on the ground and managed to throw a pew at the altar with one hand, despite her small stature. She was also able to rise into the air and perform "parabolic projections", landing some distance away.

Priests and exorcists witnessed her bouts of supernatural behaviour, the court was told, while a Capuccin monk claimed he witnessed "poltergeist"-like phenomenon in her presence. In its ruling, the court said it had "substantially confirmed" the reports, adding that a psychiatric test had shown "the woman is not suffering from any pathology that might explain these phenomena".

In court, the woman declined to discuss her behaviour. Judges authorised the divorce, while ruling the woman was not responsible for her actions and was not faking the possession.