Marriage promises and rape cases

The Supreme Court's landmark judgment that a case of rape of an already married woman on the promise of marriage will not stand will help determine the course and nature of the increasing number of rape cases. The court also pointed out that such complaints will trivialise the seriousness of the crime of rape.

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagaratna and Ujjal Bhuyan issued the verdict by quashing the rape case filed by a 33-year-old lady lawyer against a lawyer in Chhattisgarh and the subsequent trial proceedings in the Bilaspur Sessions Court in this regard. Such harassment complaints leave an indelible mark on the accused. The court has also directed the lower courts to be extremely cautious while considering such complaints.

All religions and religious texts praise marriage as the most sacred and beautiful ceremony in human life. Although it is often said figuratively that marriage takes place in heaven, the couple experiences the joys and sorrows after marriage equally. It is also considered a sin to separate what God has joined together. Life partners may not be those who are endowed with all qualities. Their family circumstances and the characteristics of their parents will influence the partners. The life of any friendship and love relationship is based on mutual trust and respect. When these core components are damaged, the relationship often becomes unstable and, without repair, begins to collapse.

Human life is the most sacred and invaluable of the billions of living beings. Without understanding its greatness, people are fighting with each other and trying to defeat their partner by any means. Even trivial issues are twisted, exaggerated and brought to courts. Evidence and arguments are presented for selfish gain. They only care about their own success rather than the success of justice. This is what the Supreme Court has blocked now.

The tendency to file a rape case when a relationship deteriorates after consensual sexual intercourse should be discouraged. Such complaints do not fall under the ambit of rape. The court has also reminded that the rape case should not be used to settle personal enmity.

The complainant in Chhattisgarh is married. She has not been legally divorced. She cannot enter into a second marriage while one marriage is still in existence. The complainant could not have legally married at the time the crime was alleged to have taken place. Therefore, the promise of marriage by another person cannot be legally enforced. The court clarified that the complainant cannot simultaneously claim she was induced into a sexual relationship based on a false promise of marriage while admitting she was already married with pending divorce proceedings.

Filing a criminal case when there is a breach of a mutually agreed-upon relationship is an abuse of the justice system. The complainant is not an ordinary woman, but a lawyer. The court observed that she should have shown prudence and discernment before filing the case.

The complainant had told the lawyer she met during a function that her divorce case was pending in court. She alleged that the lawyer had physical relations with her repeatedly after promising to marry her, and when she became pregnant, he reneged on the promise and forced her to have an abortion.

Those who devote their lives to legal battles are the ones who fail to properly understand the meaning and strength of the marriage bond, which is the foundation of society. They are slow to realise the reality that, knowingly or unknowingly, they are also losing when they set out to defeat their perceived opponents.