A Chinese woman’s virginity is worth $5,000, at least in this instance. A woman referred to only by her surname Chen was awarded that amount yesterday by a Chinese court after she sued a man she was dating (and later learned was married) for “violating her right to virginity”, Newser reports.
She alleged that he pretended to be single, vowed to marry her, and bedded her, according to Shanghai media via AFP; one outlet goes so far as to specify that they consummated the relationship while on a trip to Singapore late last year.
The South China Morning Post reports “Li” ended things soon after the trip. Looking to talk to him, Chen went to his home in February and discovered his wife. The suit followed.
Chen sought medical costs of $250 and $81,000 in psychological damages, a figure the court deemed “excessive.”
But it did determine that virginity was a civil right, and “violating the right to virginity might lead to harm to a person’s body, health, freedom, and reputation … it ought to be compensated,” in this case, in the form of $5,000.
Chen also wanted a written apology from Li; though the court ruled Li should apologise, the Post doesn’t specify how.
The court didn’t share its reasoning for the figure, which was far greater than the symbolic 1 yuan another married Chinese man was ordered to pay in 2013 to a woman he had a one-night stand with. Li’s lawyer maintains the couple did not have sex. (It’s not the only unusual sex-related case to make it to court this year.)
