Allegation of rape cannot be made after six years of consensual intercourse; HC quashes molestation case

BENGALURU: Karnataka High Court observed that a complaint of harassment cannot be filed, after six years of consensual sexual intercourse. The court stated this in its order quashing the cases filed by a woman against a native of Bengaluru, alleging that he had raped her by promising her marriage. The Bengaluru native had approached the High Court seeking quashing of the molestation cases against him.

After meeting through social media, the petitioner and the complainant had a consensual physical relationship for six years. The petitioner came forward with a complaint when the intimacy decreased after December 2019. The Court observed that if intimacy ceases after six years of consensual physical intercourse, it cannot be considered as rape. Allowing these cases to proceed with a trial would support the attempt to abuse the law again and again, the court said.
The woman first lodged a complaint of harassment at Indira Nagar Police Station in Bengaluru on March 8, 2021. After the man got bail in the case, the young woman filed another complaint in Davanagere area where the man lives. Another woman was also accused in that harassment complaint. The man approached the High Court demanding that these two cases be quashed.