Consensual Relationship not Culminating in Marriage is Not Rape : Supreme Court

New Delhi – The Supreme Court remarked in a case that a long-term consensual relationship if not culminated in marriage, does not amount to rape. The Court held that the law should not be misused in such cases. The offence of rape, being of the gravest kind, must be invoked only in cases where there exists genuine sexual violence, coercion or absence of free consent.

What is the case ?

A woman filed  a case of rape in August 2024, against a lawyer from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra. The woman had already filed a case against her first husband demanding money for maintenance. During this period, she met the accused lawyer. When they became close, the accused asked her about marriage; but the woman initially refused. Later, she became pregnant and underwent abortion. Then she asked the accused about marriage but he refused and she filed  a case of rape against him, alleging having physical relations based on his promise to marry her.

The Court has observed that the woman and the accused were in relationship for three years and it was with mutual consent. It is not a case where the accused lured the woman and then vanished. The relationship lasted for three years which is a long period. In some cases, there is a betrayal and woman really suffers. The law will definitely help in such cases; but accusations should not be based on anger or assumptions. They should be based on proof.