- The Bombay High Court has ruled that a man cannot assume a woman is willing to enter into a physical relationship with him simply because they are friendly with one another.
- On June 24, a single-judge panel presided over by Justice Bharati H. Dangre denied an anticipatory bail request to a man accused of raping a woman under the guise of marriage, stating that his friendship with the victim did not give him the right to compel sexual contact.
- Ashish Chakor, a city resident who was detained in connection with a FIR filed against him by the complainant, was appearing before Justice Dangre to hear his anticipatory bail plea.
- The prosecution claims that the applicant allegedly forced himself on the complainant while they were at a common friend's home in 2019. The two had just recently become acquainted.
- She objected to his behaviour, but he still declared his affection for her and made a commitment to marry her shortly. The couple had a sexual relationship up until the girl became pregnant, at which point the applicant was confronted. He declined to marry her or accept blame for the pregnancy.
- Instead, he called attention to her "poor character" and said that she was seeing someone else. He allegedly had forcible sexual contact with her once more despite these allegations.
- Based on these events that occurred, the police arrested the man for allegedly raping the 22-year-old complainant.
- "This friendship with the person of fairer sex does not give a licence upon a man to force himself upon her, when she specifically declined copulation," the bench stated.
- Whether it be in the form of a friendship built on shared affection, every woman deserves "respect" in a relationship.
- Here, the applicant is charged with continuing a sexual relationship under the guise of marriage, but when the complainant became pregnant, he left, claiming that the pregnancy was brought on by her relationships with other people.
- The girl complained about the application, and the bench noticed that she grew fond of him. However, she claimed that she was okay with the sexual relationship because the applicant had promised her marriage.
- "A comprehensive inquiry is obviously necessary to determine the truth of the prosecutrix's claim that the applicant was coerced into giving her consent for sex."
- "The application is denied," stated Justice Dangre.
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