‘He Had No Intention To Marry Her From The Very Inception’: Madhya Pradesh HC Refuses To Quash FIR For Rape On False Promise Of Marriage
The Madhya Pradesh High Court refused to quash an FIR for the offence of rape on the false promise of marriage while observing that the consent of the girl was obtained by misconception of fact.
The Court observed that the boy had no intention to marry her from the very inception.
The Court was hearing an application under Section 482 CrPC to quash an FIR registered against the applicant under Section 376(2) IPC.
The bench of Justice Gurpal Singh Ahluwalia observed, “it cannot be held that because of failure on the part of the applicant to keep his promise the consent of prosecutrix was obtained by misconception of fact. On the contrary, it is clear that right from the very inception the applicant did not have any intention to marry her and therefore, it is clear that he had obtained the consent of prosecutrix by misconception of fact. Therefore, in the light of Section 90 of IPC, consent of prosecutrix cannot be said to be a free consent.”
Brief Facts-
The prosecutrix filed an FIR alleging that she met the applicant -accused while working at a Company. They began a relationship, and the applicant proposed marriage, which she accepted. However, the applicant raped her, promising to marry her soon and asked her not to tell anyone. He continued to have a physical relationship with her under the false pretext of marriage. Later, he moved to Gujarat and persuaded her to leave her job for marriage. When she left the job and asked him to marry her, he refused, leading her to file the FIR.
The Court noted that the intention of the applicant right from day one was to physically exploit the prosecutrix and had no intention to marry her because if the prosecutrix went to Gujarat after leaving her job, then he had ample opportunity to marry her but that was not done.
The Court further noted that even the bail was granted on the promise made by the applicant that he would marry the prosecutrix but still the applicant did not marry.
The Court also noted that even in an application seeking permission to compound the offence it is merely mentioned that the applicant is willing to marry but according to the Court, his conduct clearly showed that he has no intention to marry her.
Accordingly, the Court dismissed the application.
Cause Title: Govind Gorele v. State of Madhya Pradesh
Appearance:
Appellant: Adv. Satyam Agrawal
Respondent: G.A. K.S. Baghel