Kochi: Kerala High Court on Friday clarified that even if a sexual relationship between two willing partners does not culminate in marriage, the same will not amount to rape in the absence of any factor that vitiates the consent for sex.
The court also held, “a sexual relationship between a man and a woman can amount to rape only if it was against her will or without her consent or when consent was obtained by force or fraud.”
Single Bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas held this while issuing the order of granting bail to Advocate Navaneeth N Nath, a Central government counsel of the Kerala High Court– who was accused of raping a woman lawyer on the promise of marriage.
The Court also dictated in its order that, “consent for sex obtained by a promise to marry will amount to rape only when the promise was given in bad faith or is vitiated by fraud or was not intended to be adhered to at the time of making it.”
“In order to convert a physical relationship between a man and a woman into rape due to the failure to abide by the promise of marriage, it is essential that the decision of the woman to engage in the sexual act must be based on the promise of marriage. To establish a false promise, the maker of the promise should have had no intention to uphold his word at the time of making it and the said promise should have induced the woman to submit herself to the physical relationship. This implies that there must be a direct nexus between the physical union and the promise of marriage,” the court added.
The particular case which resulted in the order pertains to a petitioner, who was arrested last month under Sections 376(2)(n) and 313 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after a sexual abuse complaint was lodged against him by his colleague.
She had alleged in the complaint that the petitioner abused her by enticing her with a false promise of marriage.
