SC affirms marital infidelity as a type of psychological violence

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 28) – Marital infidelity is a form of psychological violence and can result in jail time for convicted offenders, the Supreme Court (SC) confirmed in a recent decision.

The SC’s judgment, drafted by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta on September 8, condemned a man who abandoned his wife and had three children with his lover. He was sentenced to six months to eight years in prison and sentenced to a £ 100,000 fine and £ 25,000 for moral damages.

The man was found to have violated Section 5 (i) of Law No. 9262 of the Republic or the Law Against Violence Against Women and Their Children, 2004.

Specifically, the provision states that violent crimes against women and their children are committed through acts that “cause mental or emotional fear, public ridicule or humiliation of the woman or her child, including, but not limited to, repeated verbal and emotional abuse and denial of financial consequences Assistance or custody of minor children who have access to the woman’s child (s). “

“Marital infidelity, which is a form of psychological violence, is the immediate cause of the woman’s emotional anguish and suffering, to the point that even her state of health has been compromised,” said the SC’s decision .

The case stemmed from a cohabiting case the woman filed against her husband for psychological abuse due to his affair with a woman in Zamboanga, a relationship that resulted in three children. The complaint was dropped by the woman after her husband and lover agreed not to see each other.

However, the husband returned to his lover shortly after the settlement. The woman sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation and even filed an application for a habeas corpus. She believed that the mistress had held her husband against his will.

The Court of Appeals (CA) denied the woman’s petition because it found that the husband had left her at his own request. The husband specifically said that he “couldn’t take her character anymore,” but admitted that their breakup affected her emotionally and psychologically.

The woman filed a lawsuit against her husband in the regional court (RTC), stating that he had been emotionally and psychologically injured by his infidelity. In fact, she suffered from insomnia and asthma, and took antidepressants and sleeping pills.

The RTC sided with the woman, a decision that was also upheld by the CA after the husband decided to take her to the appeals court. He brought the CA decision to the SC.

In his decision, the higher judge upheld the CA’s previous decision on the basis of the woman’s “categorical and uncomplicated” testimony that he suffered mental and emotional torment as a result of his husband’s infidelity.

“Prosecutors have established beyond any doubt that (the husband) committed the crime of psychological violence through his conjugal infidelity, which caused mental or emotional distress on the part of (the wife),” the Supervisory Board ruled.

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