If the promise of marriage is breached, can sex between two consenting adults, in retrospective, be called rape?
This question has been spotlighted after senior Mathrubhumi journalist was arrested last week following a complaint by a female colleague who alleged that the anchor had sexually exploited her under the pretext of marriage. A case under Section 375 (rape), 377 (unnatural offences) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code was registered against him. His arrest has triggered a social media debate on whether it is fair to call it a 바카라rape바카라 under the given circumstances.
In India, where talking about sex in a public space is still considered a taboo and a considerable number of cases go unreported, a few instances like these again puts the glare on the very grey area of바카라rape under the false promise of marriages. How and where, in such cases, do we draw a line between consensual sex and rape? Would it be called rape if a man goes back on his promise succumbing to the social pressure or change of heart? And if he goes back on his promise at a later stage, would that fall under rape or cheating?
Depending on whatever reason, if a man backpedals on his promise, women end up being the victims, says Mumbai-based senior lawyer-activist Flavia Agnes. 바카라What do the woman who was lured into a sexual relationship on the sole promise of a future with the man do if the later dumps her after she gets pregnant?바카라 asks Agnes who believes that the women are the biggest sufferers in a patriarchal society. Women are often ostracized for bringing 바카라dishonor to the family바카라 and go through various societal pressures, why should the man be allowed to walk scot-free? she asks.
The Indian Penal Code, under the states that a man is said to have committed rape if he has sexual intercourse with a woman 바카라with her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband, and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married.바카라 The accused, if proven guilty, can face a punishment of minimum 7 years in jail.
However, the intent of the accused, if comes out to be foul during the trial, nullifies the consent. 바카라If the consent was voluntary at any point in time, even under the pretext of any kind of promise made, it would only be called cheating, not rape. It would fall under the category of rape only if the accused had malafide intentions since the beginning of the affair,바카라 notes Delhi High Court Advocate R.H.A. Sikander.
The class, caste and society are largely responsible and complicate such cases further, leaving no other option for the victim but to take a legal recourse. The Indian social fabric is such that women, in most of the cases, get into a relationship with their partners only after the assurance of marriage, argues Agnes.
바카라Law has to be creative that way. We are not looking only at urban spaces like Delhi and Mumbai. Such complaints are coming from all parts of the country including the regressive ones. There has to be a rape law with civil provisions in such cases. The person, if found guilty should at least be liable to pay the damages,바카라 Agnes adds.
In the capital also, such cases are prevalent. Not just marriage promises, complainants lodge FIR under various circumstances바카라 a raise or promotion at the work place is another one.
Many experts consider false accusations, though very few, as a tool to 바카라settle the score바카라 or 바카라satisfy the egos바카라 when the gradual change of events do not suit their purpose. This, they feel, is trivializing and diluting the seriousness of a grave crime that rape is.
바카라This can certainly be termed as misuse of rape law. How else do you read this?바카라 asks Delhi-based documentary filmmaker-activist Deepika Narayan Bharadwaj who says that she often come across such bone-chilling incidents that can make for a crime-thriller바카라s plot.
바카라Intention in a relationship is the most important thing. Though very few, false allegations whether made out of frustration or with the feeling to take revenge is leading to a flippant reading of the amended rape law,바카라 she adds.
According to , a total of 32,443 rape cases were reported in India in 2015. This number excludes custodial gang rape and custodial rape. Of these, 2,303 cases of rape and 318 cases of gang rape were found false by police following investigation. Five hundred more cases were concluded as 바카라mistake of fact or law바카라. While charge sheet rate in rape cases stood at 96.1 per cent in 2015, conviction rate was 29.4 per cent.
In 7,655 cases, the accused was a known person, who had promised to marry the victim (also called rape on false promise of marriage) and in 705 cases, the accused was a live-in partner or husband (separated/ex) of the complainant. Both these categories jointly formed 25 per cent of rapes reported in 2015.
In a recent , Justice Pratibha Rani observed that on several occasions, when the relationship breaks up due to some reason, the women use the law as a weapon for 바카라vengeance바카라 and 바카라personal vendetta바카라.
"They tend to convert such consensual acts as incidents of rape may be out of anger and frustration thereby defeating the very purpose of the provision,바카라 she said while clearly stating the requirement of to draw a clear demarcation between the rape and consensual sex especially in the case where complaint is that the consent had been given on the promise of marriage. As a result most of these cases end up in acquittals or compromise.
