HC grants bail to man accused of rape, saying it was consensual

The Bombay High Court has granted pre-arrest bail to a man accused of raping a 34-year-old woman and cheating her, while observing that the victim was educated and knew what was good and bad for her.

Justice A M Badar was hearing a plea filed by a city resident, seeking anticipatory bail after a case under IPC sections 420 (cheating) and 376 (rape) was lodged against him last month.

In his plea, the man claimed that he and the victim were in a consensual relationship and there was never an attempt to cheat or commit forcible intercourse against her will and consent. The HC, after perusing the facts of the case, observed that the woman was fully aware that the accused was a married man but still she continued her relationship with him.

“The victim is a well-educated woman working as an accountant in a college in Mumbai. She continued her relationship with the accused even after knowing the fact that he is a married person. She, subsequently, married him in a ceremony conducted by a monk at the latter’s house,” the court said in its order last week.

“Sexual intercourse against the will and without the consent of a woman amounts to rape. Prima facie, in this case, it appears that the prosecutrix was desirous of having sexual relation, and what was going on was with her consent. She had attained consenting age. It appears that she knew what was good and what was bad for her,” Justice Badar said.

According to the complaint, the victim and the accused met on a social media site. Later in December 2016, they met in Mumbai where they stayed together.

The victim claimed that the accused had then told her that he was a married man. The victim continued her relationship with the accused and in May 2016 the duo got married. Subsequently, there was some quarrel between the two following which the victim lodged a complaint against the man.