Man cannot be prosecuted for rape merely because relationship turned sour; Bombay HC

Bombay HC discharged a man facing rape charges leveled by a woman who was in a relationship with him
The court observed that the physical relationship established between them was not solely on the promise of marriage but also due to their love affair
The High Court set aside the trial court order which had rejected the application of the accused for discharge from the rape charges

In a recent case in the Bombay High Court, a man facing rape charges leveled by a woman who he had a relationship with has been discharged.

The woman alleged that the man committed forcible intercourse with her on the promise of marriage, but the High Court observed that merely because the relationship had turned sour, it cannot be inferred that the physical relationship established with her was against her will and without her consent.

The woman claimed that they met through the Orkut website in 2008 and whenever she used to visit Mumbai, she used to meet him. However, when she asked for marriage, the man refused, and they started living separately. Justice Bharati Dangre, while discharging the accused, noted that the couple had repeated sexual indulgence out of their love affair, and it was not necessarily preceded by the promise of marriage on every occasion.

The High Court said, "The prosecutrix is sufficiently of matured age to be conscious of the relationship, both physical and mental, and merely because the relationship had now turned sour, it cannot be inferred that the physical relationship established with her, on every occasion, was against her will and without her consent."

The trial court order which had rejected the application of the accused for discharge from the rape charges on the ground that the case is not of consensual sexual intercourse and sometimes it was forcible also as per the complaint filed by the prosecutrix, was set aside by the High Court.

The High Court referred to judgments of the Supreme Court and said that the refusal by the trial court to discharge the accused cannot be said to be a justifiable exercise. The High Court further observed that two matured persons coming together and investing in a relationship cannot be blamed only because the other complained of the act at some point of time when the relationship did not go well and for whatever reason need not ultimately culminate into a marriage.

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Bombay High Court