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MUMBAI: The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, for 2016, had shown nearly 39,000 cases being reported in India that year. In over 10,000 cases, a quarter, the reason cited was the accused declining to marry the accuser. Maharashtra ranks second in this category, Madhya Pradesh being the first. While MP reported 1,592 such cases of rape where the person was known and had promised marriage, Maharashtra reported 1,422, beating Uttar Pradesh which at third place reported 1,195.

Of the 29 states, two—West Bengal and Odisha -- reported zero cases of rape due to false promise of marriage. A lawyer who handles such cases said the fact that NCRB even categorises rapes under the head “Known persons on promise to marry the victim” under an umbrella title of “Cases where offenders were known to victims” reflects the disturbing trend of rise in such cases.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court passed two judgments which please persons on both sides of such a ‘marriage promise.’ In a ruling that many hailed as one which would protect many an innocent accused of a serious offence, the SC ruled that rape cannot be invoked in cases of consensual sex after a relationship ends and the man declines to marry the woman, for whatever reason. A clear distinction has to be drawn, the apex court bench said.

In April this year, the SC in another case upheld conviction of a man from Chhattisgarh in a rape case filed by the woman, who said her “consent” was taken on a false promise of marriage. The SC, however, said each case has its own peculiar facts which may have a bearing on the question whether the consent was voluntary, and the SC held that in this one, the accused, “from the very beginning never intended to marry her.” The SC, however, said facts and circumstances of every case have to be probed.

The SC bench of Justices A K Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer had clearly held in one case that rape charge cannot be invoked in case of consensual sex between live-in partners after the relationship ends and the man fails to marry her due to circumstances beyond his control. The bench said having consensual sex under the promise of marriage cannot be allowed to be used to initiate criminal proceedings for rape in case of breakdown of relationship, with no marriage taking place. Such cases could be termed a case of breach of promise to marry, the SC said.

“There may be a case where the prosecutrix agrees to have sexual intercourse on account of her love and passion for the accused and not solely on account of misconception created by accused, or where an accused on account of circumstance which he could not have foreseen or which were beyond his control, was unable to marry her despite having every intention to do so. Such cases must be treated differently,” the bench said. Often, a common thread in rape cases is of women given an intoxicant alleging they gave no legal consent for the act.

