Cuttack: Setting aside a lower court’s order, the Orissa High Court has granted bail to a person accused of committing rape on the promise of marriage and ruled that indulging in sexual intercourse on the false pretext of marriage does not amount to rape.
It felt that it was apparently ‘erroneous’ to hold that false promise of marriage-induced sexual intercourse amounts to such crime.
The high court observed this while granting the bail plea of a person, Saturday, accused of committing rape.
Notably, accused had moved the High Court after the Court of Sessions-cum-Special Judge, Koraput-Jeypore rejected his bail plea. He was booked under Section 376 of the IPC for committing rape on the basis of a complaint lodged by a 19-year-old girl.
While granting the bail, Justice SK Panigrahi said that false promise of marriage amounts to rape appears to be erroneous as the ingredients of rape codified under Section 375 of the IPC do not cover it.
He added: “The factual matrix of the case is based on a prima facie view based on records as so many aspects of the matter are hungry for a thorough trial and till that time, the benefit of bail deserves to be passed on to the appellant.”
The alleged victim lodged a complaint against the accused at Patangi police station in Koraput district November 27. She had alleged that he had promised to marry her and taking advantage of her innocence, established a sexual relationship with her and made her pregnant twice; on both the occasions, he had terminated her pregnancy by administering medicine.
In his judgment, Justice Panigrahi said, “The definition of rape as codified in Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code wherein rape has been defined as certain sexual acts when committed on a victim, falling under any of the seven descriptions: First; against her will; second; without her consent; third; with her consent, when consent has been obtained under fear of death or hurt, fourth; where consent has been given by the victim in the wrong belief that the man is her husband, fifth; when the consent is given when she is of unsound mind or intoxicated and unable to understand the nature of consequences of what she is consenting to, sixth; consent from a girl under the age of 18 years; and seventh; when she is not in a position to communicate the consent.”
He added, “The intention of lawmakers is clear on this issue. The rape laws should not be used to regulate intimate relationships, especially in the cases where women have agency and are entering a relationship by choice.”
“It is also equally disturbing, many of the complaints come from socially disadvantaged and poor segment of the society, rural areas, who are often lured into sex by men on false promises of marriage and then dumped as soon as they get pregnant. The rape law often fails to capture their plight,” he noted.
PNN & Agencies