The Supreme Court of India has quashed a rape case filed against a 23-year-old student, ruling that a married woman cannot accuse a man of rape on the basis of a promise to marry. The Court clarified that such a promise is legally invalid and unenforceable when the complainant is already in a marital relationship.
The case involved a woman, mother of a four-year-old child, who was separated from her husband but not legally divorced at the time of the alleged incident. She accused the young student of engaging in sexual relations with her on a false promise of marriage.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and SC Sharma observed that the relationship was purely consensual and could not be treated as rape. The Court stated:
“A consensual relationship turning sour or partners becoming distant cannot be grounds for invoking criminal law. Such cases burden the courts and unfairly damage the reputation of the accused.”
The Court emphasized that a breach of promise to marry does not automatically amount to rape unless there is evidence that the accused had fraudulent intent from the beginning.
The accused had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court’s refusal to quash the FIR. The FIR included charges under Sections 376 (rape), 376(2)(n) (repeated rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 504 (insult), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
However, the Supreme Court held that since the complainant was still married when the relationship began, any promise of marriage was invalid in law. The judgment noted that she voluntarily maintained the relationship for over a year and even met the accused at lodges on multiple occasions, which contradicted her allegations.
The Court concluded that the FIR was unsustainable and quashed all charges against the student.
Case Title: Amol Bhagwan Nehul v. The State of Maharashtra & Anr.
Be a part our social media community:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndianMan.in?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/indianman.in?igsh=MWZ2N3N0ZmpwM3l3cw==
