ugc_banner

Sex on false promise of marriage not rape: Orissa High Court

WION Web Team
CuttackUpdated: May 24, 2020, 05:58 PM IST
main img
Representative image. Photograph:(Zee News Network)

Story highlights

He also raised questions about whether rape laws should be used to regulate intimate relationships, especially in cases where women enter into a relationship by choice.

In a recent case, a judge of the Orissa High Court has shockingly observed that indulgence in sexual intercourse on false promise of marriage does not amount to rape.

Justice S K Panigrahi, last week, made the statement as he allowed a bail application of a rape accused, setting aside a lower court order.

He also raised questions about whether rape laws should be used to regulate intimate relationships, especially in cases where women enter into a relationship by choice.

A 19-year-old girl had filed a case against a young man and had alleged that she was in an intimate physical relationship with the man under the promise of getting married to him. She also accused the man of asking her to terminate multiple pregnancies during these four years.

The case was registered in the Koraput district of Odisha in November 2019. The accused was then arrested and had been serving jail time for the past six months.

While, in his sentence, Justice Panigrahi stated "a consensual relationship without even any assurance obviously will not attract the offence under Section 376 of the IPC (rape)", he also brought light that rape laws often fail to address the plight of socially-disadvantaged and poor victims, who get lured into sex by men on false promise of marriage.

The accused has been granted the application of bail, on the condition of proper cooperation with the prosecution, and an assurance that the accused will not threaten or harm the victim.

(With inputs from PTI)