A married woman cannot claim that she was raped on pretext of marriage, observed the Bombay High Court while granting pre-arrest bail to a man, with whom she had a consensual relationship.
The court heard a plea by a man seeking pre-arrest in a case registered against him on January 18 by Shikrapur police station in Pune district. The man approached the high court after nis plea was rejected by the sessions court.
According to the woman, she developed friendly relations with the man and after which he promised to marry her. The man allegedly took her to a lodge and had forcible sexual intercourse with her. She alleged that he threatened to circulate her videos.
However, the man argued that he and the complainant were married individuals and therefore, there was no question of any false promise of marriage for indulging in sexual intercourse with her.
“In the first place, the informant herself being a married woman, cannot claim that she fell prey to the false promise of marriage given by the applicant. Being a married woman, she was clearly aware that she would not be able to marry the applicant. In any case, even the applicant is a married man and therefore, the theory of false promise of marriage prima facie appears to be misplaced,” Justice Manish Pitale said on September 26. The judge also noted that there is nothing to indicate that the man, till date, has circulated any videos.
Also, in the last six months, the man has cooperated with the investigation and attended the police station on various dates and he also surrendered his mobile phone.
The HC has directed the man’s release, in case of arrest, on furnishing a personal bond of Rs25,000.
