Educated Girls Can’t Allege Rape After Pre-Marital Sex: Bombay HC

Women continue to carry the “baggage of morality” when it comes to pre-marital sex, the judge said.

Women carry the “baggage of morality” when it comes to pre-marital sex, the judge said. Image used for representational purpose. (Photo: iStock)

A Bombay High Court judge has decreed that an educated girl, who has consented to pre-marital sex, must take responsibility for her decision.

The court made the observation while granting pre-arrest bail to a 21-year-old man after his former girlfriend accused him of rape following their break-up.

The girl alleged that her former boyfriend convinced her to have pre-marital sex with him, by promising to marry her.

In the event of consent obtained by fraud, inducement is a necessary ingredient. There should be some material on record to believe prima facie that the girl was induced to such an extent that she was ready to have sexual intercourse. Promise to marry cannot be said to be an inducement in these types of cases.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar

The judge further said that women continue to carry the “baggage of morality” when it comes to pre-marital sex.

Under such circumstances, a woman who is in love with a boy forgets that to have sex is her option like her counterpart’s but refuses to take responsibility for her decision.

The bench observed that the case would perhaps hold weight if the man made the false promise to marry to an uneducated woman, and if he impersonated as another individual.

Source: Times of India