Supreme Court decided a marital infidelity case

Summary

The Supreme Court En Banc affirmed XXX's conviction for violating Section 5(i) of RA 9262, establishing marital infidelity as a form of psychological violence. XXX, married to AAA since 1999, had an extramarital affair resulting in a four-year-old child with YYY. When AAA discovered the affair in 2016, she suffered severe mental and emotional anguish. The Court held that marital infidelity inherently causes psychological harm and that specific intent to cause emotional suffering is presumed from the act itself, being immoral under societal norms. This landmark decision expands protection for women under RA 9262, recognizing that psychological violence through marital infidelity destroys family stability and inflicts significant emotional trauma on victims, warranting criminal sanctions to prevent normalization of extramarital promiscuity.