New DelhiTaking note of the “dangerous scenario” of marriages being conducted to avoid criminal charges and culminating in subsequent abandonment, the Delhi High Court refused to quash the First Information Report (FIR) in a rape case Is.
The High Court on Wednesday observed that there are many cases where a rape accused marries a woman “fraudulently”. However, as soon as the criminal charges of rape are dismissed, he is “brutally” released.
A single judge bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma was hearing in 2021 the case of a then 17-year-old girl who was allegedly forced to have physical relations with the accused. The accused, then 20 years old, allegedly blackmailed her with the threat of posting inappropriate pictures of her online,
Once the girl became pregnant, the accused allegedly “threatened” the girl’s mother and allegedly forced her to sign marriage documents and started living with him at his house.
However, according to the judgement, a copy of which is with ThePrint, the accused continued to “beat and molest” the girl even after marriage and allegedly tried to force her to undergo an abortion. Based on the girl’s statement, an FIR was registered in 2021 under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
While the accused claimed in court that it was a case of a “love affair” – a consensual relationship where both the parties had married of their own free will – the court refused to quash the FIR on the ground of marriage because “…even after contact” after marriage and subsequent exemption from criminal prosecution, the accused brutally abandons the victim within a few months.
‘Result of social pressure’
Justice Sharma said that though the marriage took place after the alleged sexual harassment, it was only a result of social pressure in such cases.
“Therefore, it is prima facie clear that the sexual assault took place in the year 2021 when the victim became pregnant due to societal pressures that exist in many societies including India,” the court said. The victim had succumbed to the pressure of the accused to get her daughter married to him.
It rejected the accused’s contention that the victim had consented to the relationship, noting that the consent of a minor “had no significance for sexual intercourse”. He also recorded the vehement protest of the victim to any consent.
Justice Sharma’s comments come in the wake of several such cases of “compromise” between the rape accused and the survivor in courts across the country.
On 17 June, Justice Sameer Dave of the Gujarat High Court reportedly called on an accused facing charges under the POCSO Act to ascertain whether a “compromise” was possible considering the victim was pregnant.
In yet another matter reportedly heard in the Punjab HC this April, the court made it clear that an FIR against an accused who married a rape victim can be quashed as “married life” cannot be disturbed Is.
In a case before the Himachal Pradesh HC in 2021, the police allegedly pressurized the complainant and her family to settle with the accused.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)