A husband who demanded sex with his wife at least three times a day after he began taking the drug Viagra has been ordered to pay his wife $232,000 in compensation.

In a landmark court ruling, Svetozar Varmedja, 80, was found to have subjected his 53-year-old wife to more than 18 months of physical and sexual abuse.

It included 60 threats to kill her if she did not meet his sexual needs.