Sex on marriage promise: No relief for married IAF man

MUMBAI: Bombay high court has dismissed the anticipatory bail petition of an IAF automobile technician booked for rape for having physical relations with a woman on the promise of marriage despite his marriage being fixed with another.

"...In the facts and circumstances of the present case, the appeal for pre-arrest bail deserves to be dismissed and is accordingly dismissed," said Justice Makarand Karnik on Jan 17, directing the accused to surrender by Feb 2.

Nagpada police had lodged an FIR against the Satara resident for rape and cheating in July 2022. According to the FIR, the man and the woman befriended each other on a matrimonial website and met for the first time on March 18, 2022. He convinced her to accompany him to Goa and some other places, saying it wouldn't be frowned upon since they were getting married. The woman alleged that he established physical relations on the same grounds, made her terminate a subsequent pregnancy, and then began avoiding her. On June 19, 2022, she visited his workplace in Tezpur, Assam, where she was allegedly told that he had gone home for his marriage. When she confronted him, she found that he had solemnised that marriage, according to the FIR.

The man was booked under SC/ST Act last July. The sessions court later denied him anticipatory bail.

The woman's advocate, Harekrishna Mishra, said she consented to have a physical relationship after the man promised to marry her. The man's advocate, Purushottam Chavan, said they were in a consensual relationship and whether the physical relations stemmed from a false promise of marriage could be decided during the course of the trial.

Justice Karnik said the statement of the man's sister revealed that his marriage had been fixed in March-April 2022 during a visit to his home. "The appellant was interacting with the prosecutrix in March 2022 and even when the couple met for the first time, the appellant appears to have been aware that he was to visit his parental home shortly to finalise the proposal, which fructified in marriage. This fact was not informed by the appellant to the prosecutrix at any point of time during this period," he added.