Officers told Sicilian daily Il Giornale di Sicilia that the woman, who is in her 80s, feared that sexual contact with her 82-year-old husband, who had taken Viagra, would cause his heart to give out, ANSA reported Monday.

''So much passion at the age of 82, with all the aches and pains he has, could prove lethal", the woman was quoted as saying to police.

Police said the man was "furious" when they arrived but calmed down after relatives arrived. The officers said they left the situation in the hands of the man's family.