
Defamation is when a lie causes a victim to suffer loss, typically financial. I don’t know how it works where you’re from but in America a rumor like that can cause someone to lose anything from relationships to job offers because of the stigma surrounding stds. The purpose of a defamation lawsuit is to both recoup financial losses as well as have a public record that the lie is a lie. So no it didn’t “unalive” her (which would’ve been a wrongful death lawsuit instead) but it has a huge