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Thursday 8 August 2013

Woman can’t charge a man with rape after getting pregnant during their love affair, says Bombay HC

Woman can’t charge a man with rape after getting pregnant during their love affair, says Bombay HC 


Mumbai: The Bombay high court said on Thursday that an ‘affair gone bad’ cannot be the ground for accusing a man for rape. Justice Sadhna Jadhav acquitted Borivali resident Manesh Kotiyan of rape charges three years after his arrest.

Justice Jadhav said, “The very fact that the prosecution has admitted in the cross-examination that she had a love affair with the accused and she desired to marry him. In these circumstances, offence under Section 376 of the IPC (rape) would necessarily fail.” She ruled that the rape charges against Kotiyan were ‘unsustainable’.

While acquitting a rape accused Manesh Kotiyan, the HC noted, “She had not cried for help and had not taken her resistance to a logical end. Hence, it would not be justifiable to hold that the consent was obtained by intimidation, force meditated imposition, circumvention surprise or undue influence.” "The complainant is an educated adult person," said the judge. "She was fully aware of the fact that he (Kotiyan) was attracted to her. She chose to accompany him to Gorai. She also checked into a hotel to celebrate his birthday. She was aware of the consequences," said the judge.

However, the court upheld Kotiyan's conviction on charges of cheating as he did not disclose to the victim that he was married and had children. Lawyer, who was appointed to defend Kotiyan, Arfan Sait said there was no evidence that the accused raped her, adding that they had always intend to marry her.

It may be recalled that the victim girl, who was four months pregnant, lodged a case of rape against Kotiyan in March 2010. The two had met when they were working at a stationery shop in Borivli.

According to the prosecution, they had gone to Gorai to celebrate Kotiyan's birthday in November 2009, where he forced her into having sexual intercourse.

In 2012, a sessions court held Kotiyan guilty of rape and sentenced him to seven years rigorous imprisonment.

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/MAH-MUM-kotiyan-rape-case-woman-cant-charge-a-man-with-rape-after-getting-pregnant-durin-4318194-NOR.html

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