Read Time: 03 minutes

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday granted bail to a rape accused on the basis of prima facie evidence which proclaimed that it was a ‘consensual relationship’.

The bench was hearing a bail petition in which the accused was charged under Section 376(2) (n) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A single-judge bench of Justice C. Jayachandran stated that the question of whether such consent was vitiated by the alleged false promise to marry should be considered by the trial court.

“Going by the prosecution allegations, the de facto complainant was allegedly raped on different occasions at various places, from which it could reasonably be deciphered at there was consent, prima facie. The solitary question which surfaces is whether such consent is vitiated by the alleged promise to marry, which question to be gone into by the trial Court, after adducing evidence”, stated the bench.

The prosecution submitted that the accused had raped the complainant on several occasions since February 2020 with a false promise to marry her.

On hearing the counsel on both sides, the bench observed that both were medical professionals, who specialized in Orthopedics and both suffered from a broken marriage.

The bench further noted that the accused doctor had been in remand for 28 days, and was serving the purpose of interrogation adequately.

Court was of the view that no useful purpose will be served by incarcerating the petitioner further.

Therefore, the court allowed the bail petition and directed the execution of a bond of Rs. 50,000 and two solvent sureties each for the like amount.

Case Title: Name withheld v. State of Kerala Contact us for Order Copy 

Edits by Sanya Talwar