Legal News

The Kerala High Court has ruled that the refusal to be married after having sex is insufficient to qualify as a rape offence.

By - Kshitij Srivastava

In granting bail to a Central Government Counsel in a sexual assault case, the Kerala High Court ruled that even if the partners had engaged in a physical relationship, a subsequent refusal to marry or a failure to lead the relationship into a marriage is insufficient to constitute the crime of rape.

Unless the consent for sex was obtained by a fraudulent act or deception, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas noted that a sexual relationship between two consensual adult partners will not constitute rape falling under the scope of section 376 of the IPC.