Can’t quash rape charge even if accused marries victim: HC

Court calls it ‘offence against society’; accused says case filed after misunderstanding

The Delhi High Court has refused to quash rape charge against a man who is now married to the alleged victim, observing that it is an “offence against society”.

Justice Pratibha Rani passed the order on the man’s plea seeking quashing of an FIR lodged against him for repeatedly raping a woman, hurting and criminally intimidating her.

‘Consensual relationship’

The court said, “In view of settled legal position..., the criminal proceedings emanating from an FIR registered with allegations of rape, which is an offence against society, despite the alleged marriage of the man with the complainant woman, cannot be quashed in exercise of powers vested in this court under CrPC.”

The accused, who is out on interim bail since May 20, had urged the court to quash the case on the ground that the physical relationship between him and the woman was consensual since the beginning and that they had tied the knot in May this year. He also contented that the case registered in November 2016 was a result of a misunderstanding.

As per the prosecution, the two had been in a relationship since 2005. Their parents opposed the relationship, after which the man married someone else in July 2012.

He divorced his wife in 2015 and established a physical relationship with the woman, promising to marry her. After he backed out again, the woman filed a rape case against him.