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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court recently observed that a woman booking a hotel room and entering it with a man does not imply her consent to sexual intercourse.

“Even if it is accepted that the Victim went inside the room along with the Accused, the same cannot by any stretch of imagination be considered as her consent for sexual intercourse,” the order reads.

A single-judge bench of the high court at Goa, comprising Justice Bharat Deshpande, was hearing an appeal filed by the state government challenging a Sessions Court order that discharged an accused in a rape case.

Public Prosecutor SG Bobe argued that the Sessions Judge unjustly discredited the victim’s statement. He emphasized that even without a conclusive medical report, the victim’s statement carries substantial evidentiary weight, particularly since she complained promptly, which indicates that the act was committed without her consent.

Advocate Kautik Raikar, representing the accused, argued that the victim had voluntarily accompanied the accused. He pointed out that the victim booked the hotel room, inspected it, made the payment, and shared a meal with the accused before entering the room.

In its order, the bench noted that the victim clearly stated that the accused took her to the hotel under the pretext of arranging a meeting with an agent who was supposed to help her secure a job abroad.

Furthermore, it said, “It is no doubt true that there is material to show that the Accused and the Complainant were instrumental in booking the room, however, that would not be considered as consent given by the Victim for the purpose of sexual intercourse,” the order reads.

The bench also recorded that the complaint stated the accused, after closing the room, threatened to kill her and then engaged in sexual intercourse without her consent.

Consequently, the bench proceeded to quash the Sessions Court order discharging the accused.

Case title: State through Canacon Police Station vs Gulshar Ahmed