Women Misusing Anti-Rape Law As Weapon Against Partners: High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court has said the law punishing rape is being misused as a weapon by women these days when they have differences with a male partner.

Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma made the observation on July 5 while quashing criminal proceedings against a man who was accused of rape by a woman after he refused to marry her. They were having consensual relations since 2005.

The Supreme Court has also repeatedly reiterated that a consensual physical relationship between adults cannot be termed rape if one of the parties has refused to marry, the judge said.

The Uttarakhand High Court remarked that women are misusing Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against their male counterparts for various reasons, including discord.

The woman had filed a complaint on June 30, 2020, stating that the accused was having consensual sex with her since 2005. She said the two had promised each other that they would get married as soon as either of them gets a job.

But the accused later married another woman and their relationship continued thereafter, it was claimed.

The High Court said, "The element of consent automatically gets involved when the complainant had voluntarily continued their relationship even after knowing that the accused was already married." The court said that the veracity of an assurance of marriage has to be examined in the initial stage when entering a relationship by mutual consent and not in the later stage.

The high court said that the initial stage cannot be considered when the relationship has lasted for 15 years and even continued after the marriage of the accused.

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