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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court has quashed a rape case against a 73-year-old man, against whom the FIR was registered after a delay of 31 years.

The division bench of the high court, comprising Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Neela Gokhale, was hearing a petition filed by the 73-year-old seeking to quash the FIR.

The woman alleged that in 1987, she started working with the man. She claimed that she was called to the office on a Sunday, where he forced her into a sexual relationship.

She further alleged that from 1987 to 2017, the man raped her repeatedly over 30 years in different hotels.

Additionally, the man allegedly told her that he would marry her despite already being married.

In 2017, the woman took leave to care for her mother, and upon her return, she discovered that the office was closed. She alleged that when she eventually found the man, he refused to marry her.

The high court, while quashing the FIR, noted that the woman was an adult and should have been aware of the man's existing marriage.

"She is adult enough to know that the law forbids a second marriage and there is no allegation in the complaint that, the Applicant promised to divorce his first wife and then marry her. Even otherwise, this would purely be wishful thinking on the part of the complainant that the Applicant will marry her after divorcing his existing wife. In the past 31 years, there were many opportunities for the complainant to break away and lodge a complaint against the Applicant," the order reads. 

The bench said that the physical relationship between the complainant and the Applicant cannot be said to be against her will and with out her consent.