The woman was in love with the alleged rapist.
By Dileep Thekkethil
Bombay high court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to a man accused of raping an adult woman after the court found that the educated woman was mature enough of understanding the consequences of indulging in sex with her partner while they both were in a relationship.
The court said, “An educated woman is mature enough to understand the consequences of having physical relations with her partner and such cases will not fall under the ambit of rape.â€
While hearing a plea filed by the youth from Solapur, Bombay high court judge Mridula Bhatkar gave anticipatory bail after the youth claimed that he was in a relationship with the 24-year-old woman when they had sex. He also added that soon after they broke up last October the girl filed a rape case against him in Goregaon police station.
Aniket Nikam, the lawyer appearing for the woman stated to the court that the couple fell in love after they met in 2013. She said “the boy, on the false pretext of marriage, forced the girl into a physical relationship. When the girl conceived in May 2015, the boy forced her to get an abortion done and later ended all relations with her.â€
But her plea requesting the court to not grant the anticipatory bail failed to find ground as the high court judge said “I know our society has certain taboos. But if you consider western culture, then this is consensual. This is not rape. When the woman is educated and mature, she can say no. When you (girl) say yes, then it becomes mutual,†justice Bhaskar said.
The man alleged of raping the woman was granted the anticipatory bail on a surety of Rs. 25,000. The court also banned him from attempting to contact the girl or her family members and if he tries to do so defying the orders of the court, it will be considered as harassment.