On Wednesday, the Supreme Court has asked the young man who has established physical relations to marry the victim. The top court bluntly told the young man that if you don't get married, I will do it inside the jail. The young man hails from Punjab and belongs to the upper caste, while the woman hails from the scheduled caste category and is currently living in Australia.
A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justice AS Bopanna, and Justice V Ramasubramaniam on Wednesday granted relief to the young man from arrest for the time being but warned that no one can save you from going to jail if not married.
In fact, the young man's lawyer told the bench on Wednesday that there was an agreement between the young man and the woman on 22 December 2020 that both would marry, and both the families also agreed. His signature on the agreement is also there. The lawyer said that the woman is still in Australia, so both of them will get married after she comes to India.
At this, the bench questioned whether this agreement was to avoid prosecution? After being convinced by the lawyer, the bench granted relief to the young man from arrest in the interim but also said that he should be ready to go to jail if the young man did not marry the girl.
In fact, the woman went to Australia in 2016 to pursue higher education. During this time he befriended a high caste boy from Punjab. After this, the boy proposed marriage to the girl but the girl said that since she belongs to the scheduled caste category, marriage is not possible. But the boy assured that there would be no problem in the marriage.
After this, the young man insisted on the girl making a physical relationship, but she continued to refuse. One day the boy established a relationship with the girl by taking some intoxicants and also took some objectionable photos.
After this, when the young woman was abroad, Yubak told her that the family members were ready for marriage. After which the girl came to India in December 2018. On coming to India, the young man went to the gurudwara with the girl and promised that he would marry her. After which both stayed for a few days in the hotel. Here too, he forcibly established a relationship with the woman. The young man later said that his father was not ready for this relationship.
Even after this, the young man kept promising that he would marry. The woman waited for a long time. Finally, in October last year, a case of rape and cheating was filed against the young man.
The woman also alleged that the boy used to borrow from her but never paid the loan. After the case was filed, the boy first filed an anticipatory bail plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, but the High Court rejected his bail plea. After which he approached the Supreme Court.