Thane, Jul 5 A Thane court has acquitted a man accused of raping an event management professional under the pretext of marriage, ruling that her continued relationship with him despite knowing he was already married undermined claims of non?consensual sex.
Thus, the contention that the relationship was under the pretext of marriage or without her consent is doubtful, Sessions Judge G T Pawar said in the July 1 order, a copy of which was made available on Saturday.
The court cleared the 30-year-old man, a resident of Mumbra in Maharashtra's Thane district, of charges under Sections 376, 376(2) (n) (repeated rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 504 (intentional insult) of the Indian Penal Code.
Additional Public Prosecutor Y M Patil stated that the woman, who was into event management, befriended the accused in January 2022.
It was alleged that the man established physical relations with her in April 2022 by promising marriage, and later revealed he was already married but could remarry.
Based on the woman's complaint after a dispute with the man, the Mumbra police registered the case on June 3, 2023.
During the trial, the defence counsel argued that the relationship was entirely consensual and pointed out that the woman had previously submitted a supplementary statement expressing a desire to withdraw the case.
Judge Pawar, in the order, said that from the evidence on record, it appears the relationship between the accused and the victim was going on for more than a year. If at all the victim had any grievance about physical relations with the accused without her consent, she ought to have approached the investigating agency much earlier when she came to know about his marital status.
But she continued the sexual relationship with the accused, which "creates a doubt whether it was non-consensual or on the pretext of marriage," the court said.
The court also noted that the woman changed her version from time to time.
"Initially, when she came to know about the marriage of the accused, she quarrelled with him, but afterwards she continued sexual relationship with him. When she was aware that the accused is already married, she could have avoided further sexual relation, but she continued it. Thus, the contention that it was under the pretext of marriage or without her consent is doubtful," it said.
The court also ruled that the medical evidence failed to corroborate charges of physical assault.
