HC upholds acquittal in ‘false promise of marriage’ case, cites 7-yr relationship

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh high court has upheld the acquittal of a man accused of sexual exploitation on the pretext of marriage, observing that the woman's seven-year relationship with him indicated consent.A division bench of Justice Rajani Dubey and Justice Radhakishan Agrawal dismissed the appeal against a trial court order that had acquitted the accused of charges under Sections 376 and 417 of the IPC.The court noted that criminal jurisprudence rests on the principle that no innocent person should be convicted, and found no illegality in the trial court's view that the relationship was consensual.According to the case record, the woman met the accused in 2013 while studying in Raigarh. Though her family had arranged her marriage elsewhere in 2014, she alleged that the accused took her away after promising marriage and established physical relations.She later stated that they lived together for nearly seven years across different locations, during which the accused allegedly delayed marriage and later deserted her in 2021.The FIR was lodged in Nov 2021, about two months after the alleged abandonment. During cross-examination, the woman admitted she and the accused loved each other and that she did not protest or seek help during their seven-year cohabitation . The court observed that the woman was a mature adult of 23 years when the relationship began and remained in it voluntarily for nearly a decade. The bench also pointed out a delay of over two months in filing the FIR after the alleged abandonment, for which no explanation was provided.Dismissing the appeal, the bench stated that the trial court's view was plausible and did not suffer from any illegality. Justice Rajani Dubey, who authored the judgment, remarked that the evidence indicated a consensual relationship rather than a misconception of fact.