A bench of Justice Kailash Gambhir and Justice Sunita Gupta
recently observed that failed live-in relationships and young adults getting
into hasty commitments, which often result in break-ups, are responsible for triggering the number of rape cases. The Supreme Court
also raised the question whether “failed consensual relationships” can lead to
rape charges. This is not the first time that such contentions have been raised
by courts. Last year the Delhi High Court had remarked that rape cases were
being used as a weapon for “vengeance” and “vendetta”.
Consider these cases:
1.
The
Deccan Chronicle, on 27th June 2014 reported that a woman constable
accused her live-in partner of three years of raping her. The man accused of
the crime had not been arrested till that date.
2.
On
10th February 2013, The Hindustan Times reported about a youth
charged with raping his live-in partner. They had been in a relationship for
five years, which ended when the boy’s parents objected. The girl claimed to be
under “mental and physical trauma” because of the boy’s family.
3.
On
25th May 2012, The Times of India reported that the Supreme Court
had rejected the bail application of a man accused of “raping” his live-in
partner of 8 years. The background of the case is that this Delhi based couple
were in a live-in relationship since 2004. In late 2011, when the man’s family
“opposed” his relationship with the girl, he apparently agreed to marry the
girl of their choice. Now when the girl came to know of this, she filed a
complaint eight days before the date of the marriage. She later withdrew the
complaint when family members intervened. After the marriage was solemnised,
she again filed an FIR. The man was charged with “rape“, on the “pretext of
marriage”. He was denied bail.
4.
In
2010, NDTV reported about a man from Haryana being charged with rape on his
live-in partner. Reportedly the man left the woman when she asked him to marry
her when she got pregnant.
5.
Back
in 1986, Australian citizen, Kevin Ibbs, a resident of Perth was charged with
Sexual Assault for “continuing” intercourse for a short time, “after” the woman
had revoked her “consent”. The woman apparently withdrew her consent while the
two were engaged in the act of intercourse just when Ibbs was about to ejaculate.
Ibbs was sentenced to four years imprisonment. The woman later admitted that
the whole incident was orchestrated. In 2008, seven years after his release,
Kevin Ibbs committed suicide.
The law regarding rape and sexual assault is clear. If a
woman claims that the intercourse was non-consensual or the consent was with
the condition of marriage, the act becomes rape, as can be seen from some of
the cases described above. The 2013 Criminal Law Amendment Act reiterates this.
How far it is just is a matter of debate.
Consider a hypothetical situation: A man and a woman fall in
love. They decide that they want to spend their life together. They enter into
a physical relationship. Some years later they begin to drift apart and
eventually end their relationship.
Another situation: A man begins “pursuing” a woman. He
promises to marry her in due course. Meanwhile, he enters into a physical
relationship with her. Later on he ends the relation citing some absurd reason.
Now the women, in both cases, file a complaint against the men
alleging rape on the pretext of marriage.
Which of these complaints sound genuine and should stand?
The judiciary must be very careful in dealing with cases of
sexual assault where the accused and the victim were in a relationship. Rape
laws must not be used as a tool for revenge by jilted lovers.
HERE is a list of anti-sexual violence laws in India and the changes made by Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013.
HERE is a list of anti-sexual violence laws in India and the changes made by Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment