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panhar rathore (HC)     28 November 2012

Refusal for marriage

I hav question regarding marriage. if two consenting adults in their forties had a casual relationship and the woman got pregnant. The discussion went on about marriage. The woman claims she has emails from the man promising marriage if she terminated pregnancy which she eventually did. Now the man has refused to marry her. Both had had consensual s*x. Is there a case? What right does a women's cell in police have?

 

please guide



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 7 Replies

rajiv_lodha (zz)     28 November 2012

Yes, 376 IPC, 420 IPC to name at least.

See the element of consent in RAPE (376): If consent is taken by giving her false promise of marriage, its considered rape. Law is heavily tilted to these ladies whom the guys try 2 shun after making them pregnant while falsly promising marriage.

P.S: Though highly personal choice, but why didnt u ppl use latex-barrier while enjoying those intimate moments

1 Like

Raj Kumar Makkad (Adv P & H High Court Chandigarh)     28 November 2012

I do agree with the adviice of Rajeev and need nothing to add.

panhar rathore (HC)     07 December 2012

Thank you for the replies. However, if the consent was not taken with the promise of marriage but couple indulged in consensual s*x and it resulted in pregnancy; what happens then if the man refuses to marry? What is the law regarding if he promised marriage after the preganancy but before abortion and then refused?

Is DNA test considered valid to establish paternity of the aborted foetus?

galsober@yahoo.co.in (def)     07 December 2012

Rajiv Lodha's words stand tall even now in ur rpt query

As far as DNA is concerned, its very much valid proof of ur fetus in her womb. So do not think on the lines of denying that child is nt urs

Raj Kumar Makkad (Adv P & H High Court Chandigarh)     07 December 2012

This is nothing but a fraud with offence under section 376 IPC.

Tajobsindia (Senior Partner )     08 December 2012

I differ to opinion expressed by ld. Makkad in reference to presented facts.
Reasoning:

1. Hon’ble SC has said in catena of Judgments that there cannot be straight jacket formula applied to determine consent in rape.
2. Where the question of consent was the issue, even the Hon’ble Supreme Court has observed that s*x with the consent of the girl on a promise to marry her will not constitute rape unless it was shown that such consent was obtained by the man under coercion or threat.
3. Consent requires voluntary participation in the s*xual act after exercise of intelligence based on the knowledge of the significance and moral quality of the act. Here the queriest first say that two consenting adults in their forties had a casual relationship and then the woman got pregnant then the discussion went on about marriage. He didnot say before us that for marriage they consented to have s*x! See the fine line under discussion before jumping to S. 376 IPC or Fraud..
4. The idea of coercion in the context of gaining consent for s*x is one that can cause confusion for some; when one refers to consent gained under duress, our minds tend to flassh immediately to threats, either physical (use of a weapon or a fist) or implied.
5. The parties are not puppies herein; both are said to be in their 40’s which is considered mid-life and a reasoned status r/w mature age of such people.
6. Based on the facts in hands there was no straitjacket formula for determining whether consent given by the adult woman was voluntary or given under a misconception of fact, viz ‘promise to marry.’
7. I find it difficult in validating all consent in such cases, distinguishing between promises that are patently false, intended purely for purposes of securing s*xual consent, from those that are not.
8. The only evidence that this queriest placed before us for consideration are emails (past!) and aborted fetus (present). Mind it two adults do exchange emails with Shakespeare texting or few adult contents. Even if “marriage” word were expressed in say one or few of the texting messages that exchanged between them then for god sake we are taking here of assumed proscuterix who is  in her 40’s not a puppy in heat !
9. Regarding the aborted fetus and speculations of other repliers on
DNA; for god sake as per IMA Act and Nursing Homes medical datas record keeping structure (guidelines) are concerned a Nursing Home / Hospital (pvt. / Govt.) are not required to retain abortion cases medical records for more than 90 days. And aborted fetus is thrown into the furnace the moment the D&C (abortion) performed so how come some repliers are speculating on DNA
fingerprinting??
10. What I forecast if and if any case admitted in Court then the Court has to see whether the person giving the consent has given it under fear or misconception of fact and the court should also be satisfied that the person doing the act, i.e. the alleged offender is conscious of the fact or should have reason to think that but for the fear or misconception, the consent would not have been given.’ I mean where is the fear factor here when they had their first s*x? How she can be under fear have even s*x with this man (queriest) ?
11.  The proposition that a reneged promise of marriage can transform consensual s*x into rape in some situations has implications for the evolving legal discourse on s*xuality.


Having reasoned as above I feel this is not a case where under fear the queriest should live that some emails were exchanged and they had s*x further the other partner carried out a
D&C (abortion) and now she is saying either jail or marry me which to me is inducement for blackmail rather than becoming a rape case!

Whereas I find this brief a fit case of extending emotional coercion from the female to the male partner as emotional coercion can come in many forms, whether it’s the idea of “tit for tat”, the use of guilt or , or even veiled or implied threats to the relationship or to a person’s reputation.

Having considered the views expressed by
Hon’ble Apex Court and applying them to this query I find this is not a case where the queriest should live in fear. He will eventually be acquitted of “false” charges of rape if ever applied upon him. Be in company of seasoned Advocates J

panhar rathore (HC)     10 December 2012

Thank you for your replies specially the details by tajobsindia.

Can someone suggest a good lawyer for my client in Delhi, Mumbai or Pune?

Secondly, the last act of s*x between these two 40+ adults happened 2 and half years ago and the D&C also happened at that time. Since then there has been no physical contact. Does this long delay in registering a case have any bearing on the case?


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