Allahabad High Court: One must consequences of pre-marital sex

The Allahabad High Court granted bail to the accused in an alleged case of sex on the false promise of marriage, saying that the complainant, a widow aged about 35 years, should have been aware of the repercussions of pre-marital sex with an unknown person.

While allowing the bail plea of rape accused Durgesh Tripathi, Justice Rahul Chaturvedi said, "It is clear without any doubt that the victim must understand the far-reaching repercussions of pre-marital sex with an unknown person. The victim also declined medical examination to ascertain the factum of rape upon her."

Relying on the Supreme Court judgements in Dr Dhruvaram Murlidhar Sonar case and Pramod Suryabhan Pawar case, the court said, "Taking the guidance of the aforementioned judgements of the apex court, the submissions made by counsel for the appellant, prima facie, appear quite appealing and convincing for the purpose of bail only."

Earlier, the petitioner's counsel submitted that as per the FIR registered on December 4, 2020, the victim, whose husband had expired in December 2016, had developed intimacy with the appellant.

She stated in the FIR that she had fallen in love with the appellant who established physical relationship with her on the false pretext of marrying her and this lasted for two years without any resistance or objection from her.

Thereafter, the appellant refused to keep his promise, abused and humiliated her and issued life threats.

She, however, declined to get medically examined to establish rape.

The woman's counsel argued that the accused exploited a destitute widow after winning her confidence with a false promise and mercilessly ravished her for two years and then ousted her from his life.