Supreme Court has again reiterated its legal position and has held that a man having sex with a woman promising to marry her will amount to rape. The woman’s consent having been obtained by fraud will be of no consequence whatsoever and person accuse will be charged with rape.

A Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Justice MR Shah gave the ruling and said that this kind of consent cannot be regarded as consent as the woman agreed to have sex under the misconception that the man would marry her. Therefore, such a consent obtained by a man is clearly obtained by fraud, with the man having no real intention of marrying the woman.

Justice Shah, writing the judgement, said that such incidents are offences against society and are on the rise these days, reported The Asian Age.

“A rapist degrades and defiles the soul of a helpless female”

“Rape is the most morally and physically reprehensible crime in a society, an assault on the body, mind and privacy of the victim. As observed by this court in a catena of decisions, while a murderer destroys the physical frame of the victim, a rapist degrades and defiles the soul of a helpless female,” the Supreme Court observed.

The Bench slapped seven-year imprisonment on an appellant called doctor Anurag Soni, who is an accused in a similar case and said that rape is an offence that reduces a woman to an animal, shaking the very core of her life. The apex body said that rape violates the victim’s human rights and is a crime against the whole society. “Being the most hated crime, rape is tantamount to a serious blow to the supreme honour of a woman, and offends both her esteem and dignity,” the court said.

The Bench further noted that just because of the prosecutrix (female victim) subsequently married and/or the accused married another woman, it does not create a ground to not convict the appellant for the crime punishable under Section 376 of the IPC.

In this prosecution case, the prosecutrix, a resident of Koni, Bilaspur, was familiar with the accused doctor for a long time and had been in a relationship with him. The accused had promised to marry her, and both their families were aware of the fact. On the promise of marriage, he had sex with her but later refused to marry her.

While the accused was awarded imprisonment of 10 years by the trial court and the Chattisgarh high court on the complaint of rape, the Apex Court reduced it to seven years in the present appeal.

Also Read: After Bombay HC, Now Kerala HC Says Educated Woman Having Sex On Promise Of Marriage Isn’t Rape