If A Married Woman Does Not Object, Sex Cannot Be Considered As Non-Consensual: Allahabad HC

In a noteworthy judgment, the Allahabad High Court has underscored that when a married woman with prior experience in sexual relations refrains from voicing objection, her intimate involvement with a man cannot be categorically deemed as non-consensual. This significant legal perspective emerged during the hearing of a criminal case involving a 40-year-old married woman who accused her live-in partner, Rakesh Yadav, of rape.

The court acknowledged that the victim had not obtained a divorce from her husband and had chosen to enter into a live-in relationship with Rakesh Yadav with the intention of marrying him.

Three defendants sought the dismissal of charges filed against them in the court of an additional civil judge, (junior division), in the new Court No. III/Judicial Magistrate, Jaunpur. It was highlighted that the victim's marriage in 2001, from which she bore two children, had a contentious nature, and Rakesh Yadav (the first applicant) allegedly exploited the situation. They cohabited for five months, during which they engaged in physical relations.

Allegedly, co-accused Rajesh Yadav (the second applicant) and Lal Bahadur (the third applicant), the first applicant's brother and father, assured her they would facilitate her marriage to Rakesh Yadav. They even obtained her signature on plain stamp paper, falsely claiming a notarized marriage had occurred when no such marriage took place.

The applicants' counsel argued that the alleged victim, a married woman in her 40s and a mother of two, possessed the maturity to understand the nature and morality of the consensual act. Therefore, they contended that this case did not constitute rape but a consensual relationship between the first applicant and the victim.

In an order dated August 4, the court suspended the ongoing criminal case against the applicants, granting the opposing parties six weeks to submit a counter affidavit. The next hearing is scheduled after nine weeks.

Author: Anushka Taraniya

News Writer, MIT ADT University