Bombay High Court denies anticipatory bail to man accused of raping woman on false promise of marriage

The Bombay High Court recently refused to grant anticipatory bail to a man employed with the Police Department, who has been booked for raping a woman under the pretext of false promise of marriage [Rupesh Koli vs State of Maharashtra]. .A division bench of Justices SS Shinde and SV Kotwal was hearing a criminal appeal filed by Rupesh Koli, challenging an order of the sessions court at Panvel, Maharashtra by which Koli was refused anticipatory bail. The appellant was booked under Sections 376(2)(n) (rape), 313 (causing miscarriage without consent) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code read with provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act..As per the First Information Report (FIR) filed on September 18, 2021, Koli met the prosecutrix on a social media platform, where the duo got acquainted. The virtual friendship turned into an intimate relationship after Koli promised to marry the prosecutrix in 2019, and in November 2019, he established physical relations with her.Further, the FIR stated that when the mother of the prosecutrix enquired as to when the appellant would marry her daughter, Koli assured that the ceremony would be performed after the Covid-19 induced lockdown came to an end..The prosecutrix claimed that in December 2019, when she got pregnant due to the continuous intimacy, she was given pills to cause miscarriage and the appellant gave her an assurance that he would soon marry her. She again got pregnant in April 2021, and was given the pills.However, subsequent to this, the appellant's behaviour changed, and he often assaulted the prosecutrix which resulted in her to filing the FIR in September 2021..Koli's counsel submitted that this case one of a purely consensual relationship, and hence no offence is made out against his client. He further pointed out that his client is in the employment of the Police Department, and his arrest would affect his career. He lastly submitted that the parties had reached a settlement, thus the case should be closed..On the other hand, the prosecutrix and the State submitted that this was a serious offence and that the appellant had no intention to marry the prosecutrix from the inception. It was further submitted that since the prosecutrix belonged to the Scheduled Caste, and resultantly a case under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was also made out against him..Having considered the detailed submissions, the bench noted that the the relationship was consensual, but the consent was obtained on the false promise of marriage."It appears that the physical relations between Appellant (Koli) and the informant were going on for a long time but they were based on the promise of marriage given by the appellant to her. Subsequently, he did not take steps to marry her. His subsequent conduct shows that he never intended to marry her right from the inception," the judges observed. The bench further considered the submission of the prosecutrix that Koli had been threatening her of consequences and forcing her to settle the matter."....in the background of the averments made in the affidavit filed on behalf of the informant, possibility of pressurising her to settle the matter, cannot be ruled out. Hence no case is made out," the judges said dismissing the appeal..Advocates Rahul Arote and Jai Kanade appeared for the appellant and the prosecutrix, respectively. The state was represented by additional public prosecutor Y M Nakhwa..[Read Order]