Durban - A Phoenix woman is at her wits’ end at being constantly bullied on Facebook by her husband’s former mistress, who is allegedly using fake Facebook accounts to harass her and her family.
This is in spite of the woman taking out a protection order against the mistress.
“I don’t know what else to do. My husband had an affair with this woman and had a child with her. The relationship ended on his side, but she can’t accept it.
“She blames me and my two children, saying we’re preventing him from leaving, but it was his choice to stay. We are now the targets of her online attacks,” she said.
She said the posts started in 2016.
“My main issue is what she is posting about my child, tagging his school. She says that my child is gay and in another post she claimed he was racist,” she said.
“It’s getting worse. She’s giving away the name of my son’s school, our address and his picture. She is putting my child in danger.
“Anything you do to me, I’m fine with, I’m strong, but don’t target my child. Especially with all the crimes committed against children,” she said.
The ex-mistress apparently also created a fake account for her former lover. The woman said her husband had lost jobs and contacts because of the mistress’s actions.
“She also posted something weeks ago and tagged the school I teach at. The pupils saw it, but no one told me. Previously, she posted that I was sexually assaulting pupils at my school.
“I can never apply for any promotion at the school because she has destroyed my credibility.”
In August last year, the woman took out a protection order against the former mistress, but it didn’t help.
She said she has evidence linking the mistress to the Facebook posts.
“I feel so numb, I don’t know what to do,” she said.
The mistress’s reign of terror does not end with social media harassment. She apparently contacts security companies, pretending to be the wife, and calls them out to the house, claiming there are intruders or people in the yard.
She apparently also contacts the woman’s mother and swears at her. The woman said the former mistress also visits their neighbours and occasionally parks outside their home.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said a case of crimen injuria is being investigated. Mbele said the docket had been sent for a decision on whether or not to prosecute.
Verlie Oosthuizen, partner and head of the social media law department at Shepstone and Wylie Attorneys, said remedies were available for defamation via social media.
“There have been cases in court with similar facts to this situation and the people being defamed on social media are usually successful.
“People can be held accountable in terms of criminal law and they can be held accountable in terms of civil law,” Oosthuizen said.
Social media trainer Gus Silber said social media harassment was very common andw any harassment could become a civil or criminal matter.
“It is ugly and psychologically damaging,” Silber said. “People are doing it without realising it’s criminal. It can be as minimal as a fight on social media and can escalate to what we have here. It can be very damaging.”
He said the person being harassed could lay a charge against the harasser.
“You can’t go online and say anything you like. With just one word, there can be consequences,” he said.