KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan - A married man was acquitted by Kaohsiung prosecutors yesterday after being indicted for committing adultery against his wife.

This occurred even though the wife had presumably substantiated her husband's cheating by providing evidence such as a video tape, photos, text messages and cell phone contact records.

The prosecutor refuted her claim, saying the video tape cannot be used as evidence as it was obtained illegally. The photos and texts, on the other hand, cannot prove that her husband had sexual intercourse with the woman.

The heart-broken wife cried and said the prosecutor's judgment was brutal and unfair. The wife was accompanied by an employee from the detective agency that had videotaped her husband and the woman both naked in a bathroom last June. The husband Huang jin-jie, 36, claimed that he was taking a shower when the woman, Chen Yi-fei, 41, suddenly rushed into the bathroom because of sudden abdominal pains.

Huang first met Chen, a 41-year-old English teacher, at a dinner party and reportedly began to date her.

Huang's wife later found out that her husband had slept over at Chen's place many times and consequently hired an extramarital detective to tail Huang. In addition to the footage and flirtatious texts, Huang and Chen were also shown going to a motel together in photos taken by the detective.

The prosecutor reiterated that the footage was not filmed under the police's presence and therefore cannot be used as evidence of adultery.

THE CHINA POST / ASIA NEWS NETWORK