MP Court denies bail to a man who refused to marry on the ground of caste differences

Case: Naresh Rajoriya v The State

Madhya Pradesh High Court denied bail to a differently-abled man charged with rape under the pretext of marriage and expressed shock at the continued caste-based discrimination. Justice Vivek Agarwal was informed that the applicant's father refused to allow the marriage between the accused and the survivor on the ground of a 5-year-age difference and the fact that the survivor was from a different caste.

For the second time, the applicant sought bail in a rape case, claiming the prosecutrix consented to the intercourse and that they had stayed together at hotels on several occasions. It was argued based on multiple precedents that merely refusing to marry when there was a consensual relationship could not be grounds for a prosecution.

The respondents stressed that this was not simply a case of consensual pre-marital sex as both the parties were differently abled. The applicant drew the prosecutrix with a promise of marriage. However, as soon as he landed a job in the Defence Ministry, he refused to fulfil his promise.

The Court took note of the fact that the applicant always knew of the age difference and there was also knowledge of the survivor's caste. The Court denied bail to the applicant noting that the prosecutrix was a vulnerable witness.