SC rules that Sex on false promise of Marriage is Rape, Read Judgement here

April 14, 2019:

The court said such incidents were on the rise in modern society.

The fact that the victim & her rapist have married other people & gone their separate ways will not erase the crime. The rapist would still have to answer for his crime, a Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao & M.R. Shah concluded in their recent judgment.

The case concerns the rape of a woman by a government doctor in Chhattisgarh in 2013. The man had engaged in a physical relationship with her at his home on the promise of marrying her. At the time of the crime, he was already engaged to marry another woman. He later broke his promise to the victim.

On the basis of an FIR filed, the man was convicted of rape. The conviction was confirmed by the High Court. He was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. The apex court was appealed to.

In his judgment for the Bench, Justice Shah observed that it was clear from the evidence that the man’s intention was to cheat the victim. She would not have consented to the sexual act had he not promised her marriage. “It was a clear case of cheating & deception,” the Supreme Court held.

“Rape is the most morally & physically reprehensible crime in a society, an assault on the body, mind & privacy of the victim. While a murderer destroys the physical frame of the victim, a rapist degrades & defiles the soul of a helpless female. Rape reduces a woman to an animal, as it shakes the very core of her life,” Justice Shah wrote in the judgment.

The court said rape is the “most hated crime”. “It tantamount to a serious blow to the supreme honour of a woman, & offends both her esteem & dignity,” the judgment said.

The mere fact that both the victim & her attacker have married separately moved on does not erase the horror of what was committed on her. The rapist must face the consequences of the crime.

The court however reduced his sentence to seven years’ imprisonment.

SC Judgement in Anurag Soni v. State of Chhattisgarh on Rape in the name of Marriage promise 2019 (Downloadable PDF)