Consensual sex for several years cannot be a basis of rape charges. Yes, this is what Karnataka high court observed and quashed charges against a man who was accused by his estranged lover of rape and criminal breach of trust. The court was of the view that the consent in the case is "not once, twice or thrice or for days or months; but for several years, five years precisely". Justice Nagaprasanna said it cannot be said the consent of a woman was taken for five long years against her will. It is the length of the relationship and the acts in such a period of such relationship between the two that takes away the rigour of ingredients of Section 375 of the IPC, for it to become an offence under Section 376.