A husband in China who found his wife in bed with another man was shocked when the wife’s lover tried to sue him for blackmail. - Illustrative Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock
BEIJING: A 33-year-old man in China who was sentenced to six months in prison for blackmailing his wife’s lover after he caught the pair in bed has cleared his name.
The Shandong Provincial High Court ordered the Intermediate People’s Court of Zibo – a city in Shandong, eastern China – to review the case earlier this year.
On October 8, it pronounced the husband, surnamed Lu, not guilty, Huashang News reported.
In March 2021, Lu noticed his wife was spending a long time getting dressed up to take their daughter to her private tutor.
His suspicions were aroused so he followed her to a hotel where he found her having sex with a man in one of the rooms.
The furious husband used his mobile phone to film his wife, who was wearing sexy lingerie, with her lover who was naked. He then beat the man and kicked his wife.
The lover, surnamed Liu, admitted he had an affair with Lu’s wife and gave him compensation of 25,000 yuan (US$3,500) via three online money transfers.
However, a month later, when Lu was dealing with the divorce lawsuit, he was informed that Liu had reported him to the police and accused him of blackmail.
Lu believed his wife was behind the idea so she could gain an advantage in the fight for custody of their daughter.
In November 2021, a District Court sentenced Lu to six months in jail for extortion. He was also fined 5,000 yuan (US$700).
Lu appealed, but the Zibo Intermediate People’s Court upheld the decision of the first court in March 2022.
He appealed again, and the intermediate court once more rejected his request in December 2022.
Lu then petitioned the Shandong Provincial High Court, which ordered the Zibo intermediate court to rehear the case, explaining: “The original verdict did not verify some facts and some evidence was conflicting”.
The intermediate court heard the case in January this year. Its verdict, made at the beginning of this month, exonerated Lu, deciding he had accepted the money after negotiating with Liu.
The court further decided that Liu was the one at fault for having sex with Lu’s wife, behaviour that breached public order, good customs and moral standards.
Lu’s lawyer, Wang Yantao, said the decision to change the outcome was made thanks to the media focus on the case.
He said they are planning to apply for state compensation but have not calculated a detailed figure yet. - South China Morning Post
