A man surnamed Li (ę) has to pay 30,000 RMB to compensate a woman who lost her virginity to him, decided a court in Shanghai's Pudong District in the first case of this kind in the People's Republic of China.
In 2009, Mr Li had met a 30-year-old woman surnamed Chen (é³) through a website. At first, the two of them were just friends. On September 2013, however, they began dating, and their relationship became closer and closer. According to the woman, he pursued her and hinted at the fact that they might get married. On WeChat, they started to call each other 'husband' and 'wife' (terms used in Chinese in a different way than in the West; they denote the formation of a social relationship ranging from would-be marriage partners to patron and mistress). They also went on a trip to Singapore together. During their stay there, they had sex.
On December 2013 their relationship started to deteriorate. Subsequently, the man broke up with her. Since she was unable to get in touch with him, on February 3, 2014, Miss Chen went to his house and forced her way inside. She found out that Mr Li - contrary to what he had always claimed - was not single. In fact, he had got married on January 2014. He and his wife had just returned from a trip to Sri Lanka when Miss Chen went to his home.
She decided to file a lawsuit against the man, accusing him of having violated her virginity and of having damaged her health. She claimed to have suffered mental and physical distress because of what he did to her. She asked for a compensation of 50,000 RMB for psychological damage as well as the payment of the costs she incurred when visiting her gynaecologist.
The judge ruled that sexual intercourse is a private matter between two individuals, but that the law must protect "chastity rights" as a form of "sexual freedom" and "sexual safety." He therefore decided that the man must produce a written apology to the woman and pay a compensation of 30,000 RMB.
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