Consensual Relation Turning Sour Not Grounds For Rape Charge, Says Kerala High Court

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The court also noted that rape is a heinous crime and such an allegation can mar a young person's life forever
The Kerala High Court has said that merely because a consensual relationship turned sour at a later point of time, it cannot be a reason to allege rape.
The court, while granting anticipatory bail plea to a 27-year-old, also said there cannot be a case of deceitfully obtaining consent under a false promise of marriage as the complainant is still in a subsisting marriage.
The prosecution's case was that the accused had raped a third-year medical student between November 3 and 4 last year at a hotel near Thamaraserry.
The complainant, in her statement, said her marriage had taken place on February 16, 2023, and is still subsisting, though the couple had decided to part ways.
She said in the meantime, she became acquainted with the petitioner through Instagram and thereafter continued their relationship through the platform Snapchat.
Later, according to the de facto complainant herself, under the pretext of returning home for study leave, she took a train to Kozhikode, where she was picked up by the petitioner, and together they travelled to Wayanad. En route, they took a room at a hotel near Thamarassery and spent a night there. The next day, they travelled to Tirur and stayed in another hotel and on the following day, she returned to Thiruvananthapuram.
The counsel for the petitioner argued that the allegations were false and that a consensual relationship had been converted into a rape case without any basis, merely because the relationship later deteriorated.
The court also noted that rape is a heinous crime and such an allegation can mar a young person's life forever. 'The stigma of such an accusation will follow him even if he is later acquitted," the court stated. 'Courts cannot be unmindful of the changing social milieu, while considering the applications for bail from youngsters who are accused of the offence of rape after being in a willing relationship," the court added.
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