Gasheem Shookat Baksh vs CA TITLE: Gasheem Shookat Baksh vs.

CA CITATION: 219 SCRA 115 FACTS: Private respondent, Marilou Gonzales, filed a complaint dated October 27, 1987 for damages against the petitioner for the alleged breach of their agreement to get married. She met the petitioner in Dagupan where the latter was an Iranian medical exchange student who later courted her and proposed marriage. The petitioner even went to Marilous house to secure approval of her parents. The petitioner then forced the respondent to leave with him in his apartment. Marilou was a virgin before she lived with him. After a week, she filed a complaint because the petitioner started maltreating and threatening her. He even tied the respondent in the apartment while he was in school and drugged her. Marilou at one time became pregnant but the petitioner administered a drug to abort the baby. Petitioner repudiated the marriage agreement and told Marilou to not live with him since he is already married to someone in Bacolod. He claimed that he never proposed marriage or agreed to be married neither sought consent and approval of Marlious parents. He claimed that he asked Marilou to stay out of his apartment since the latter deceived him by stealing money and his passport. The private respondent prayed for damages and reimbursements of actual expenses. ISSUE: Whether breach of promise to marry can give rise to cause for damages. HELD: The existing rule is that breach of promise to marry per se is not an actionable wrong. The court held that when a man uses his promise of marriage to deceive a woman to consent to his malicious desires, he commits fraud and willfully injures the woman. In that instance, the court found that petitioners deceptive promise to marry led Marilou to surrender her virtue and womanhood. Moral damages can be claimed when such promise to marry was a deceptive ploy to have carnal knowledge with the woman and actual damages should be paid for the wedding preparation expenses. Petitioner even committed deplorable acts in disregard of the laws of the country. Therefore, SC set aside the decision of CA awarding damages to the respondent.

Baksh v CA 219 SCRA 115

Facts: Gashem Shookat Baksh is an Iranian enrolled in a medical school while Marilou Gonzales works in the cafeteria of said school. According to Marilou, Gashem courted and proposed to marry her. Because of his persuasive promise to marry her, she allowed herself to be deflowered by him. No marriage came hence an action for breach of promise to marry. Issue: Is a breach of promise to marry an actionable wrong? Is Article 21 of the Civil Code applicable in the case?

Held: [I]The existing rule is that breach of promise to marry per se is not an actionable wrong. Congress deliberately eliminated from the draft of the New Civil Code the provisions that would have made it so. This notwithstanding, the said Code contains a provision, Article 21, which is designed to expand the concept of torts or quasi-delicts in this jurisdiction by granting adequate legal remedy for the untold number of moral wrongs which is impossible for human foresight to specifically enumerate and punish in the statute books. Where a man's promise to marry is in fact the proximate cause of the acceptance of his love by a woman and his representation to fulfill that promise thereafter becomes the proximate cause of the giving of herself unto him in a sexual congress, proof that he had, in reality, no intention of marrying her and that the promise was only a subtle scheme or deceptive device to entice or inveigle her to accept his and to obtain her consent to the sexual act, could justify the award of damages pursuant to Article 21 not because of such promise to marry but because of the fraud and deceit behind it and the willful injury to her honor and reputation which followed thereafter. It is essential however, that such injury should have been committed in a manner contrary to morals, good customs or public policy. Source: Pinoyexchange posted by pugsley Thanks