An Ahmedabad court recently ruled that a rape case cannot be used to force a man to keep his marriage promise. The court cleared a bank employee, Bhavesh Patel, who was accused by a married woman of raping her under false pretenses of marriage.
In 2020, Patel introduced the woman, who had two children from a previous marriage, to his parents but they did not approve. Consequently, Patel told the woman he could not marry her, leading her to file charges under Sections 376, 420, and 506(2) of the IPC for rape, cheating, and criminal intimidation.
The woman claimed her first marriage occurred in 1999 and Patel had asked her to divorce her husband to marry him. She obtained a divorce in 2017 through a Rs. 100 stamp paper deed, but Patel did not fulfill his promise after their two-year relationship.
Judge Amandeep Sibia, however, did not accept the woman’s allegations that she was “forced and lured” into the relationship under false marriage promises. The court highlighted that the woman’s divorce was invalid, making marriage with Patel impossible.
The judge pointed out that the 36-year-old mother of two could not have been naive enough to engage in a physical relationship while still married. The judge stated that a married woman entering a relationship cannot claim cheating if the man falsely promises marriage, as it is not possible for him to marry a legally married woman.
The court concluded that the prosecution under Section 376 IPC is not a method of enforcing marriage promises, and acquitted Patel while dismissing the case.
