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The Delhi High Court, while disposing off an appeal had held that promise by a man to marry a woman cannot be considered as an inducement to have a physical relationship. In this case, an FIR was filed by the police after a complainant had complained about the accused. This was followed by the proceedings under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The complaint stated that the accused and the plaintiff had entered into a friendship which turned into a love affair within a span of two years, subsequent to which the accused had promised he plaintiff that he would marry her.
Both the parties met each other regularly during when the relationship was at its peak. On one such occasion, the accused had invited her to his home by convincing her that his mother wanted to meet her. However, though she resisted, the accused raped her in his home and asked her to remain silent on the ground of promise that he would marry her. A similar incident also took place when they had booked a hotel. Later, when the accused denied marrying her, the plaintiff registered the complaint in the police station, though she denied going through any medical examination.
The Court observed that there is no ambiguity on the fact that the parties were in a physical relationship with each other. The Court while dismissing the appeal found that entering into a physical relationship when both the parties are adults and have their consent does not amount to a crime. The Court observed that the prosecutrix had still been in the relationship for more than three months even after the first alleged incident of rape on the pretext that the defendant would marry her. Thus, the Court upheld that it cannot be accepted she did not have her consent.
Image credits: delhihighcourt.nic.in
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