I refer to K Kabilan's report of Dina Brizuela Cooper's story ([#1] Sultan fathered illegtimate daughter [/#], March 2).

We can all learn some lessons from this unhappy episode.

Firstly, if what Dina said about the non-consensual relationship with the sultan of Pahang were true, it does show there was an abuse of power, which can be handled by the Special Court, promulgated in 1993 for cases involving royalty.

But is her story true - that she was forced at gunpoint? According to her statutory declaration, the unwelcome sexual overtures began well before the first allegedly 'forced' encounter in a private house in Bukit Nanas and soon after the first encounter, her passport was confiscated under false pretenses by the sultan's aides.

The problem with this part of her story is that one wonders why was her first instinct not to flee the country when she still had the passport.

It also seems highly improbable that when she was forced by the sultan in the first encounter, she would later voluntarily hand over the passport to his aides (which was how she was forced to extend her stay in the country). Even if the first encounter were 'forced', it is hard to say about the subsequent ones.

The second lesson to be learnt is that once a woman conceives a man's child, the whole power equation is reversed against the male perpetrator in favour of the woman. (Does anyone know the statistics of how many men were coerced into marrying their wives because of the latter's unintended pregnancy?).

Dina amply proved that even if a king could force a sexual encounter, he still could not force an abortion. Dina, unlike many rape victims, resisted abortion, but kept and nurtured the result of it for bargaining and leverage.

From the time Carla was conceived, Dina could dictate terms even to the king. What constitutes reasonable or unreasonable compensation is subjective, but the important point to be made here is that once a woman holds a man's child, she is immediately invested by this physical DNA evidence with superior power to bargain against the man's standing position and wealth for what she wants.

In simple terms, even a king may be blackmailed. It is not that no appropriate financial and other arrangements had been offered - the fact is that they do not meet the 'reasonable' expectations of Dina.

But what is reasonable? - Woe betides a man whose seed is caught by an emotionally marginalised woman for whom no arrangement can be satisfactory - and who is bent on extracting, like Shylock (in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice ), her "pound of flesh".

Dina must know that if she went public on this issue on her website, it would give the other party no more reason to offer compensation in return for confidentiality.

Again, another lesson from Shakspeare, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". This wrath has taken advantage of the Internet revolution and through the expediency of a website, it has been broadcast worldwide!

Whilst the champion of women's causes will jump on this episode to illustrate how a woman is often victimised by men in power, let there be sufficient empathy for the other side - often how a man is held to ransom (by a woman who reverses the power when she catches his biological seed) and made to suffer in property, reputation and standing by reason of his first indiscretion arising out of a natural basic instinct.