If You Are Educated And mature, It’s not Rape, It’s Consensual Says Bombay HC

An educated woman is mature enough to understand the consequences of having physical relations with her partner and such cases will not fall under the ambit of rape, the Bombay High Court said on Thursday.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar said this while granting anticipatory bail to a 25-year-old man from Solapur. The man’s anticipatory bail plea that said that while he was in a relationship with a 24-year-old woman from Mumbai, he broke up with her later. But the woman lodged an FIR against him on charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation.

According to the woman’s counsel Aniket Nikam, the couple met in March 2015 and fell in love. “The boy on the false pretext of marriage forced the girl into a physical relation. When the girl conceived in May 2015 the boy forced her to get an abortion and later ended all relations with her and also stated “wronged and physical relationship on false promise of marriage must be considered as rape.”

“This cannot be considered as rape. You are a major, educated, and you have a choice of saying no. But if you did not say no at the time, then it will be considered as mutual consent. When the woman is educated and mature, she can say no. When she says yes, then it becomes mutual,” Justice Bhatkar said while granting pre-arrest bail to the man.

 

(Source Hindustan Times)

(Feature image source: twitter)