Can failed affair lead to rape charges: SC

Looking into the trail of cases, wherein the women have used rape as "a weapon for vengeance and vendetta" to harass and even force a man to marry, the Supreme Court has asked a question raising a doubt on a failed consensual relationship between adults lead to filing of rape charges against the man.

Last year, the Delhi HC noticed the issue and said rape cases were being used as "a weapon for vengeance and vendetta" to harass and even force a man to marry.

The case before the apex court concerned a failed relationship between a top IDFC banker and a former cabin crew member with an international airline. The man said the highly educated and net savvy woman knew all along that he was married with two children and it was impossible to hide his marital status. He said he could not have induced sexual relationship on the promise of marriage.

The woman in her complaint accused him of sexually abusing her on the promise of marriage and threatening to circulate an indecent video of her prepared by him.

A vacation bench of Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice SK Singh asked: "Why did you take the indecent photograph? You say it was a selfie. Is it possible to take selfie of a whole body?

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the accused, said: "People get carried away in such relationships. They had a peculiar relationship. The bench asked, "Peculiar? It can be called a cupid relationship not a stupid relationship."

When Luthra said that "breach of promise to marry" was not an ingredient for rape charges, the bench asked: "Where is it held (by a court) that if you had a relationship for two years (with a woman), it becomes rape when it failed?"

It was quite appreciable on the side of the Supreme Court, which has looked into the rising misuse of the rape as a weapon for girls to get the relationship converted into marriage. It can be noticed that though the women protection laws have the noble ideas of their protection, they are being misused as a weapon to get their means served. This hampers the basic goal served by these laws and by the law-makers.