Thane Court Denies Bail To Man Accused Of Rape Under New BNS Provisions

The Thane Sessions Court has denied bail to Ismail Zakaria Shaikh, a Thane-based man accused of allegedly raping a woman he had met on a matrimonial site, allegedly under the pretext of marrying her. In its order, the court observed that the new provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for the offence of sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means (Section 69 of BNS) are stricter, with a maximum punishment of 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine if found guilty.

The court further held that releasing the accused on bail at this stage could potentially harm the victim, especially considering she is about to get married soon. Anticipating such harm, and not ruling out the possibility of the accused tampering with prosecution evidence and influencing witnesses, the court rejected his bail plea.

Police Action and Arrest

A case was registered against Ismail at the Kashimira Police Station. According to the prosecution, the case dates back to October 2024, when the victim was searching for a marriage alliance on a popular matrimonial website. Ismail saw her profile and sent her a proposal. The two began communicating frequently to get to know each other better. Assuring her of marriage, the accused allegedly forced the victim into an intimate relationship. The victim alleged that Ismail took obscene photographs of her and later began demanding sexual favours, threatening to make the photos viral if she refused.

Realising that Ismail had allegedly been raping her under the false promise of marriage, the victim approached the police in June 2025 and lodged a complaint. Ismail was arrested on June 26, 2025.

Defence Claims False Implication

In his bail plea, Ismail’s advocate argued that he was innocent, had not committed any offence, and was falsely implicated in the case. However, the prosecution opposed bail, stating that the offence was serious and the investigation ongoing.

Prosecution Highlights Fake Social Media Activity

“During investigation, the mobile phone of the accused was recovered, and it contained objectionable pictures of the victim. The accused had created a fake Instagram ID in the victim’s name. Information from Instagram confirmed that the fake account was created using the accused’s own mobile phone. If released on regular bail, the accused may tamper with prosecution evidence and witnesses, and there is a possibility of him fleeing. Hence, the application should be rejected,” the prosecution argued.