A screenshot from the video of the mistress mopping the floor | Image: Instagram
There is a disturbing trend on the rise that sees scorned wives engage in criminal behaviour in an effort to humiliate the women they find their husbands having extramarital affairs with.
The latest such event involved an unidentified woman believed to be from Tshwane who forced her husband’s mistress to “pay” for her transgression by forcibly doing housework.
The wife then proceeded to film the punishment while yelling instructions and insults at the woman while further berating her.
In the first video, the woman can be seen mopping the ground outside with a cloth and bucket.
“A kere o nyaka go ba mosadi wa mo?” the wife asks the visibly distraught woman, which translates to “because you want to be the woman of this house.”
In the second video doing the rounds on social media, the same mistress has been stripped naked and forced to wash the bedding and the blankets she and the wife’s husband allegedly had sex in.
“You want to be the woman of this house?” she asks again, before adding, “then do the chores as a wife. I want these blankets clean,” says the wife in a video.
The woman is told to say she sleeps around with married men who have kids over and over, while she is being filmed, reports Daily Sun.
These videos are only two of a few, however, as scorned wives have formed groups, mainly on Facebook, where they distribute pictures and videos of their husbands’ mistresses, screenshots of the conversations between their husbands and these women, as well as other private information about these women.
They then post their contact details for the groups’ members to harass these women in an effort to deter them from dating married men.
Although there are a number of legal avenues available for the victims of this behaviour to take in an effort to seek justice, only a court can determine the outcome, as well as whether the wives and their co-conspirators are guilty.
This is according to attorney, reporter and legal adviser Helene Eloff.
Eloff says that the leaking of nudes and personal information both constitute privacy infringements.
“The victim’s right to dignity is trashed when naked videos of them are distributed without consent,” said Eloff.
She added that victims may approach the SA Human Rights Commission for relief.
“I also suggest that victims approach the police – this will constitute sexual harassment in many cases. Charges of crimen injuria may also be laid. A protection order against the shamer may also be obtained in terms of the Protection from Harassment Act,” added Eloff.
Thanks to the POPI Act and Cybercrime Bill which that take effect in future, people who publish others’ personal information unlawfully could face serious consequences, such as a hefty fine or imprisonment of not more than 10 years – or both.
An amendment to section 16 will also criminalise the intentional and unlawful leaking of nude photos. Cybercriminals may face up to three years in jail, according to the bill.
Lastly, a claim for damages based on the humiliation and (if applicable) monetary loss that victims have incurred as a result of the video shaming can also be brought in civil court.
So despite the hurt the cheating causes, perhaps you should think twice about seeking revenge of any kind against an ex-lover and their lover.
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