Married Woman Accuses Rape Based on a Fabricated Marriage Commitment: Case Dismissed

In spite of the woman’s claims that she was coerced into having sex, the High Court found that it was clear from reading the first information statement (FIS) that sex was voluntary in nature. Further, according to Justice Kauser Edappagath, it is established law that if a man backs out of a marriage proposal, the couple’s consenting sexual activity would not constitute rape unless it can be demonstrated that he never intended to wed in the first place.According to the High Court, it is settled that if a man retracts his promise to marry a woman, consensual sex they had would not constitute an offense under Section 376 of the IPC unless it is established that consent for the such sexual act was obtained by him by giving false promise of marriage with no intention of being adhered to and that promise made was false to his knowledge. This Court has ruled that the accused’s alleged promise to a married woman that he could marry her is an unenforceable commitment under the law.A prosecution under section 376 (rape) of the IPC cannot be based on such an illegal and unenforceable promise. Since the victim is a married woman who was aware that a legal marriage to the petitioner (accused) was not permissible under the law, there is no issue of a commitment to wed in this case, according to Justice Edappagath.Due to these factors, the court determined that the accused was not guilty of the offenses listed in sections 376, 417 (cheating), and 493 (cohabitation brought about by a man falsely creating the illusion of a valid marriage) of the IPC, and it accepted the accused’s plea to have the case against him dismissed.What do you think of this? Comment down below.