Khushi Bajpai
Published on: July 18, 2022 at 21:40 IST
In case of Ashish Chokar Vs State of Maharashtra the Bombay high court recently comprising of a bench of Justice Bharti Dangre held that merely because a girl is friendly with a boy, doesn’t allow him to take her for granted and construe it as a consent to establish sexual relationship with her.
The facts of the case were as the petitioner anticipates being arrested in connection with a case filed for offences prohibited by Sections 376(2)(n) , 376(2)(h) and 417of the IPC. In 2019 the accused reportedly had forcible sexual contact with the complainant when they were at another friend’s home. He declared that he liked her and would marry her when she objected. Then between April 2019 and 2022, the act was performed many times.
The woman allegedly revealed multiple instances in which they had intercourse after the accused pledged to marry her, according to the complaint.
The court observed that the girl, a major, apparently developed a like for the applicant, the court said, but her version of events about the sexual relationships is that she gave her agreement because the applicant made the promise of marriage. However, the applicant blamed adultery when the girl become pregnant, but on their final date, as detailed in the complainant, they once again had forceful sex.
Merely sharing amicable contact with a female do not allow a boy to take her for granted and consider it as her consent to create physical relationship, “the court said in rejecting the motion. Since friendship is not gender-based, it is entirely conceivable in today’s culture for a man and woman to get close when they work together, becoming either psychologically compatible or confiding in one another as friends.
However, a guy is not given permission by his friendship with a person of a different sex to force himself onto her when she expressly declines copulation. Whether it be in the form of a friendship built on shared affection, every woman expects ”respect” in a relationship. The applicant is accused of having sexual connection under the guise of marriage, but when the complainant become pregnant, the applicant left the relationship and claimed that pregnancy was brought by her own relationships with other people.