By Anurag Mishra–
Bombay High Court in an order granting bail to a 24-yr-old rape accused said there cannot be a straight jacket formula as to how a women would react to an act of outrage by man.
Justice Bharti Dangre while rejecting the long-lived notion, as expressed by Warren Buffet i.e.
‘If a lady says No, she means may be’ are old hat tricks and the issue as to whether the girl really consented freely for a physical indulgence with her is to be searched by applying the new standards of modern life and the present social scenario,”.
Background of the case is as follows:
- 25-year-old woman had alleged that she was raped and molested by the accused on October 28, 2019 at Aamby Valley in Lonavala, a hill station around 120km from here.
- According to the victim, she was acquainted with the accused for the last eight years and that they had gone to Aamby Valley to celebrate Diwali along with some friends.
- After returning from her trip, the woman told her mother about the incident, following which they approached the police station concerned in Pune and registered an FIR on November 8.
- Accused is a mechanical engineer and has no criminal antecedents.
- The accused was in Jail till today since December 2019 when he was arrested.
Contentions given by Defense Counsel:
While seeking bail, the accused’s advocate Abhinav Chandrachud argued that there had been an unexplained delay in registering the FIR.
Court’s Observations:
- After the detailed perusal of the charge sheet and documents by the prosecution, the court opined that the present facts and circumstances does not constitute a reasonable ground for the guiltiness of the accused.
- The court noted that the victim claimed to have raised an alarm to stop the accused from molesting her and it was astonishing that despite being in the same bungalow, none of her friends came to her rescue.
- The court also observed that, the reason for she not disclosing the offensive conduct of the applicant, which was so dreadful, horrific and appalling, according to her, is something incomprehensible.
- The court reasoned that all women are brought up differently, their upbringings, their social surroundings may differ, and they may face different experiences through life. Therefore there cannot be one straight jacket formula for any woman would react to an act of outrage by a man.
- The court opined that it is to be determined in the trial stage that at what juncture the consent was revoked.
- Moreover, imprisonment of the accused for an indefinite period would lead to be a concept which is polar opposite to the concept of liberty
- Thus the court granted bail to the young man on an personal bond of Rs 50,000