Sanatan Prabhat > Post Type > News > National News > If two adults are in a live-in relationship with mutual consent and later the relationship breaksup, a charge of rape cannot be registered merely on that basis

If two adults are in a live-in relationship with mutual consent and later the relationship breaksup, a charge of rape cannot be registered merely on that basis

Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench)

  • Lower court’s judgment set aside

  • Accused acquitted

(Live-in relationship means a man and a woman living together without marriage.)

Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh): In a case related to a live-in relationship from Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court set aside all the convictions imposed on a young man who had been held guilty under charges of kidnapping, rape, the POCSO Act, and the SC–ST Act.

The Court clearly observed that when two adults live together in a live-in relationship with mutual consent and later separate, implicating the man in serious criminal cases merely due to the breakup amounts to misuse of the law. The Court also remarked that these laws were enacted at a time when the concept of a live-in relationship did not exist.

1. In August 2021, the mother of a Dalit woman filed a Police complaint alleging that a young man belonging to an Other Backward Class community had abducted her daughter from home in February 2021 by promising marriage. It was further alleged that the man had physical relations with the woman, made her pregnant and later abandoned her.

2. In this case, the Police filed a charge sheet under Sections 323, 363, 366, and 376 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 6 of the POCSO Act, and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC–ST Act. The Special Court at Maharajganj convicted the accused and sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment under the POCSO Act and life imprisonment under the SC–ST Act, along with other punishments.

3. The accused challenged the Special Court’s decision before the High Court. While hearing the appeal, the Division Bench comprising Justice Siddharth and Justice Prashant Mishra observed that the victim was an adult at the time of the incident. Based on the age certificate issued by the Chief Medical Officer of Maharajganj, the Court noted that the woman was 20 years old in August 2021.

4. The Court clarified that the woman had gone with the accused of her own free will and that both had lived together in a live-in relationship for six months. Since the couple lived in public places and among other people, the allegations of forcible abduction or coercion for marriage were not proved.

5. The Court further held that when the victim is an adult and physical relations are consensual, the POCSO Act and rape provisions are not applicable. It also noted that for Section 3(2)(v) of the SC–ST Act to apply, an offence punishable with imprisonment of ten years or more under the IPC must be established, which was not found in this case.

6. The High Court set aside the lower court’s judgment and ordered the immediate release of the accused.

Latest Articles