The Kerala High Court has held that a rape case in which the allegation was that the accused had sexual intercourse with a woman by obtaining her consent on promise of marriage and when he subsequently marries her legally, such a case can be quashed.
The court while quashing a rape case against a man from Pathanamthitta, who later married the victim, observed that the Supreme Court had held the prosecution of a person for committing an offence punishable under Section 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) could not be quashed on the ground that the accused and the victim had compromised and settled the case. The petition was filed by the accused.
The court, however, said that in a case where the allegation was that the accused had sexual intercourse with a woman by obtaining her consent by making a promise to marry her and when he subsequently marries her, ‘‘it does not constitute a compromise or settlement between the accused and the victim. It really means fulfilment of the promise made by the accused to the prosecutrix.’’
The court pointed out that the promise made by the accused in the instant case to marry the prosecutrix (victim) was not a false promise made only with the intention to satisfy his lust. This was evident from the fact that he married the victim within a short period after the incident. It was a marriage solemnised under the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
Therefore, the court found that what occurred was ‘‘only acknowledged consensual physical relationship between the parties.’’ It did not amount to rape.
In this factual scenario, prosecution of the petitioner for committing an offence of rape would be an abuse of the process of the court and continuation of the prosecution would cause embarrassment to the couple and it would create discord in their happy matrimonial life, the court further observed.