'Cheated' man moves court to book wife for rape

SURAT: A 38-year-old man from Puna area approached a local court on Friday, demanding that his 33-year-old wife from Erthan village be booked for alleged rape. He approached the court after police did not register a FIR on the basis of his complaint.
The complainant, Kamlesh, who is an accounting professional, approached the court to book his wife and her parents. He alleged that his wife Sarla (names changed) was already married but she did not disclose this to him.
"The accused conspired and misrepresented the woman as unmarried and fraudulently got her married to the complainant without divorce. The accused woman deceived the complainant into believing that she is his lawfully married wife and obtained his consent to establish sexual relationship thereby committing his rape," the complainant said in his appeal.
His appeal was accepted by the court of judicial magistrate first class as criminal miscellaneous application and the next hearing was scheduled on April 11. Kamlesh approached the court through his lawyers Shailesh Pawar and Jatin Vanzvala.
The complainant sought a case under Indian Penal Code Sections 376 (rape), 107 (wilful concealment of a material fact which he is bound to disclose), 108 (abetting an offence), 120(b) criminal conspiracy and others. He also sought compensation.
"It is a private complaint and we have submitted important evidence to prove our case," said Pawar.
Kamlesh and Sarla got married in May 2010 and it was an arranged marriage. They were living together till August 2019. They became parents of two children during this period. But Kamlesh found that Sarla had got married to her boyfriend in 2009 in Navsari.
"A woman is said to commit 'rape' if she establishes sexual relationship with a man with his consent, when the woman knows that she is not his wife and that his consent is given because he believes that she is a woman to whom he is lawfully married," the complainant said in his appeal.
After doubts about her extramarital relationship, Kamlesh started investigating the matter on his own. He gathered Sarla's audio call recordings, call data record and the certificate of her marriage with the other man. He also got a DNA test of his younger son done, which did not match.
During police inquiry of Kamlesh's complaint, Sarla and her parents told the police that she had taken divorce from the previous husband at a Navsari court.
But when Kamlesh filed an RTI application at Navsari civil court requesting for the details of the divorce, he was informed that the accused and her husband had never applied for divorce.