Observing that the senior citizen couple was in a consensual relationship and the physical relations were not forced, the Bombay High Court has discharged a 68-year-old man from a rape case registered against him by a 61-year-old woman in 2015.
Justice Bharati Dangre, on May 4, discharged the man observing that it was a relation between two adults, who were capable of understanding the consequences of their actions. The two were In a relationship since 2005.
A relationship between two adults, says HC
“It was a relationship between two adults, capable of understanding the consequence of their actions, and by no stretch of imagination, it could be inferred that the physical indulgence was without the consent of the woman or against her will,” the judge said.
In 2015, the woman, then 54-year-old, had registered an FIR with police alleging that the man, then 60-year-old, had forced physical relations with her on multiple occasions since 2005 under false pretext of marriage. He was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for rape, molestation and criminal intimidation.
The court noted that the two shared a consensual relationship for a decade, from 2005 to 2015, when the complaint was lodged. It further said that the woman was well aware that the man was already married and despite this, she had continued the relationship.
Act "against will and without consent" is rape: HC
The judge said the offence of rape is attracted when the act is done “against will and without consent” of the woman. Here, the Relationship continued for a decade and it can be easily inferred that it was "mutual and consensual".
In the detailed order, the court said: “There is no reason to infer that the relationship shared was a forced one. It is also not a case where a young woman is lured into a physical relationship by a man under the pretext of marriage.”
The woman separated from her first husband. She remarried, but lost her second husband in an accident.
According to the complaint, the woman worked as a headmaster in a school in Pune where the man was a chairman. She alleged that the man claimed that he was unhappy in his marriage and expressed desire to marry her.
The two got into a relationship in 2005 which lasted till 2015 when the woman lodged the complaint alleging that he used to physically abuse her when she demanded that he marry her.
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