Share to: Comments welcome, I want to comment. Heartbroken and seeking comfort (All characters in the article are pseudonyms). Wenwen is from Hubei Province. Since starting university, she has been living alone in Shanghai. In September 2010, her boyfriend suddenly proposed a breakup, plunging Wenwen into despair. Unable to find someone to confide in, Wenwen thought of Sun Min. Sun Min was someone Wenwen met in 2003; despite being over 20 years older than her, Wenwen considered him very "understanding," and they got along well. She often called him "uncle." During the National Day holiday that year, Sun Min suggested taking Wenwen on a trip to nearby cities for relaxation, which she readily agreed to.
Regarding Wenwen and Xiaohong's claims, Sun Min did not refute them, admitting that the photos and videos were taken without Wenwen's consent initially, and he used them to threaten her into marrying him. Sun Min claimed that when signing the agreement with Wenwen, he deleted the photos and videos in front of her and never made copies.
To save face, Wenwen decided to get married. In court, Wenwen brought her friend Xiaohong as a witness. Xiaohong stated that at first, she also found it strange that Wenwen would marry someone so much older, but later learned through repeated questioning that Wenwen had only done so because she was threatened with "inappropriate photos."
Based on this, the court annulled their marriage registration from February of that year.
When they traveled out of town, Sun Min proposed having sexual relations. Driven by a desire to retaliate against her ex-boyfriend, Wenwen did not oppose it. During this time, Sun Min took compromising photos and videos of Wenwen. After returning to Shanghai, Sun Min demanded marriage, threatening to release these photos and videos online if she refused.
The court ruled that marriage freedom is a right granted by law, and the establishment of a marital relationship should be based on feelings. If one party is forced into marriage, the coerced party can request the marriage registration authority or the People's Court to revoke the marriage. The request to revoke the marriage must be made within one year of the marriage registration. According to both parties' statements in court, the agreement signed between them, and witness testimonies, Sun Min used threats of exposing nude photos and videos to force Wenwen into registering their marriage, contrary to her true intentions. Therefore, the marital relationship between the two should be deemed invalid.
At the age of 26, after breaking up with her boyfriend, Wenwen sought comfort from Sun Min, a middle-aged man more than 20 years her senior, traveling to another place for relaxation. Unexpectedly, Sun Min secretly took compromising photos and videos of Wenwen, using them to coerce her into marrying him. Recently, the Huangpu District Court ruled their marriage invalid and revoked their marriage registration.
Additionally, the agreement clearly stated that Sun Min had previously coerced Wenwen by threatening to post her photos and videos online. Wenwen was not voluntary, and Sun Min promised to permanently delete the photos and videos.
Considering the issue of saving face, Wenwen did not want to escalate the matter and therefore did not report it to the police, choosing instead to compromise. In February, Wenwen reluctantly agreed to Sun Min's demands and registered their marriage. Soon after, they signed an agreement concerning their post-marriage life and property issues. The agreement stipulated that Sun Min could not force Wenwen to cohabit with him, each party’s property remained independent, and if Wenwen wished to dissolve the marriage, Sun Min would have to unconditionally agree, with no claim to any assets.
In September, as Wenwen gradually emerged from the shadow of her past, she filed a lawsuit in court, requesting the annulment of the marriage. She argued that there was no emotional foundation between her and Sun Min, and they had not lived together after registering the marriage. She had only registered due to coercion and threats from Sun Min.