A sessions court has denied bail to a 28-year-old married man who had a live-in relationship with a widow and was booked after she complained of his having physical relations with her on the promise of marriage and then not keeping his word.
The Shivaji Nagar police had registered offences of rape and cheating against the Govandi resident.
Akhatar Shiddiki had said in his bail plea that that it was a case of consensual sex and that he had been in a live-in relationship for many years with the complainant. The woman is a 40-year-old mother of three and mature. He claimed that there cannot be forcible sex with her.
The prosecution had opposed his plea telling the court that the complainant and Shiddiki live in the same area and he could influence her if released on bail. It also said that Shiddiki had kept a relationship with the woman on the promise of marriage and had even taken Rs. 1.50 lakhs from her to start a factory and thereafter broken his promise.
Additional Sessions Judge RN Pandhare said in her order rejecting the bail plea that no doubt the victim is a widow having three children and is quite mature. But it cannot be said, it continued, that there cannot be any wrongful act like rape upon her. Here it is a specific case, it said, where the accused had kept relations with the victim lady despite him being married and noted that both parties are Muslim and such marriages are permitted in the community. It also said that the accused had assured to marry the woman even before her brother.
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