Observing that entering into a love affair cannot be presumed that the woman has given her consent for a physical relationship, a Delhi court has awarded ten-year sentence to a man for sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman on the pretext of marrying her.
The man and woman were neighbours in Nabi Karim in Paharganj in Central Delhi. They became friends over a period of time and started moving around together.
One day, the man took the woman to a hotel in Paharganj telling her that there was a birthday party for one of his friends. He booked a room there.
According to the complaint lodged by the victim with the local police, the man raped her there twice, brushing aside her objections. When she started crying, he calmed her down and assured her that he would talk to his mother about marrying her.
The woman kept quiet for some time, in the hope that the man would keep his promise. But her hopes were dashed, when the man told her that he would not marry her.
Not only that, he also threatened to defame her if she dared to share the incident with her family.
But she gathered courage and confided in her mother. Then she along with her mother went to the police station and lodged a complaint against the man, Rajiv Mourya.
Additional Sessions Judge Kaveri Baweja convicted Mourya solely on the basis of the victim’s evidence, rejecting the man’s argument that she had established relations with him voluntarily.
“To my mind, when a girl does not give her willingness or consent for sexual relations, it must necessarily be treated as ‘no’ and it cannot be said that since she was having a love affair with the accused, she must have also necessarily consented for entering into sexual relations with him,” the Judge observed.
To my mind, when a girl does not give her willingness or consent for sexual relations, it must necessarily be treated as ‘no’
