Chinese man who had sex with virgin told to pay 30,000 yuan after lying he was single
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 17 September, 2014, 11:53am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 17 September, 2014, 12:44pm
James Griffiths [email protected]
A security guard stands in front of the Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters
A married Shanghai man who had sex with a virgin after telling her he was single has been ordered to pay 30,000 yuan (HK$37,830) compensation.
On Tuesday, the Pudong New Area People's Court ordered the man, surnamed Li, to pay his younger lover, surnamed Chen, the money in compensation for violating her "virginity right".
The court heard how Chen met Li online five years ago but didn't start dating him until September 2013, at which time Li told her he was a bachelor.
During a trip to Singapore later in the year, the couple had sex for the first time, but after they returned to China Li became distant and soon broke off their relationship.
In February, unable to contact Li, Chen broke into his home, where she met his wife.
On March 26, Chen filed a lawsuit alleging that Li had "violated her virginity by deception". She demanded 500,000 yuan in compensation and a written apology.
Li's attorney denied that the couple had had sex, but said his client had been serious about their relationship.
The court held that virginity was a civil right that should be protected, and that perpetrators who violate it can be held liable. By taking Chen's virginity by deception, it said, Li had brought about a negative influence on her health and reputation, and should therefore pay compensation and apologise.
Though this case was the first of its kind in Shanghai, it is not without precedent in China.
In February 2013, a court in Xiamen, Fujian province ruled that a married man who had a one-night stand with a woman during which he represented himself as single had violated her "chastity rights" and should make a written apology and pay a symbolic compensation of 1 yuan.
Courts in Kunming and Shenzhen have also ordered rapists whose victims were virgins to pay greater levels of compensation for violating the women's "chastity rights".
