Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sexual intercourse in the temptation of marriage is rape?

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Sexual intercourse in the temptation of marriage is rape? what do you think? Today we will discuss sexual intercourse in the temptation of marriage. The high court of India gives a lot of judgment about this title.

Rita and Sumon both are the same age and they are in a relationship. It has been two years of their relationship. They hang out in different places, talk over the phone regularly, chat on WhatsApp. Even Sumon often helped Rita during her financial problem and Rita also helps Sumon financially.

Last year they secretly have intercourse several times while hanging out and at their houses. Rita and Sumon often promised each other of getting married through their regular conversation. They dreamt of making family, staying forever with each other.

In the middle of December, Sumon thought Rita cheating on him and started avoiding Rita. And Rita understood it very well.

As they had intercourse several times and had financial transactions between them, Rita is thinking of filing a case against Sumon for raping in the temptation of marriage and for cheating.  Now, the question is, “what kind of legal action Rita can take for filing a case or what should she do?”

First of all, it is must say: “Law is very limited and hard”. To file a serious case against someone,  we must need proof called “Prima Facie”. It is also important to look at how the law of the country describes that crime.

The story described above might happen with some people, and people seem to be confused in this situation. Let’s look at the law book. In our country, still now there is no specific law for cheating in relationships.

However, rape and cheating have been discussed in some sections of the Penal Code and the prevention of Violence against Women and Children Act.

Section 551 of the Penal Code has defined fraud. And in sections 407 and 420 have mentioned various types of punishment for fraud. Fraud cases are very small in the eyes of law.

Fraud cases are bailable, can be settled by court order. The important fact is rape. Both Rita and Sumon’s consent, they had comfortable sexual intercourse. Can Rita complain about rape? No, she cannot.

According to Section 9, Women and Child Suppression Act, rape is defined as “if a man has sexual intercourse without the consent of a woman over the age of 16( sixteen) without marriage or by intimidation or fraudulently obtaining her consent, or intercourse with the consent of a woman under the age of 16(sixteen) or has sexual intercourse without consent then he is considered to have raped the woman.”

Dear Reader, if you notice, you can see they had intercourse with their consent. We can see in Rita and Sumon’s story mentioned above, they have intercourse several times with their consent as they love each other. So, it is not considered rape.

Another question might come to your mind is that in the description,  there is mentioned about threatening and cheating. Then physical relationship in the temptation of marriage,  isn’t it one kind of cheating?

Yes, it is. But, every incident has a different description and the High Court has rejected such arguments on many legal issues and has made landmark decisions.

The Supreme Court in the case of Hanif Sheikh vs. Asiya Begum which is 51 D.L.R. on page 129 and another similar case which is mentioned on page 25 of the 17 B.L.T., “If a man intercourses a girl over the age of 16(sixteen) in the temptation of marriage, it will not be subjected to rape.”

If adult female -male intercourse with their consent, it is hard to prove this intercourse as rape. In this case, it may complain as cheating. But, if the victim is under 16 then it is considered rape. Because a girl of this age does not have the power to consent.

Moreover, there are many more rulings or cases where The Court has commented that it is not appropriate to prove the allegation of rape in the temptation of marriage.

So, after a proper interpretation of the law and looking at the precedent in The High Court, you can realize that the rape cases cannot proceed properly in the temptation of marriage.

Considering the above legal issues, it is seen that Rita cannot file a rape case Against Sumon as a legal remedy but can file a case of fraud based on strong evidence.

Because the Women and Child Abuse Act is a special law. There is a separate Tribunal for handling cases under this Act.

Moreover,  under this Act, if a plaintiff thinks of harassing someone by filing a false case then Section 17 of the Same Act provides for seven years rigorous imprisonment as a punishment for filing a false case and filing a complaint.

So, it is better to have an open discussion with a learned Lawyer or legal advisor when taking legal action.

Note: The love story of Rita and Sumon that is told above is imaginary and sorted. Many of you may have partial or complete similarities with this sorted story. Not that you will take legal action based on the advice given in the article.

Each case can be described in different ways and complaints may differ based on the case. So, it is better to have a discussion with your lawyer before taking legal action and then make a thoughtful decision.

বাংলা আর্টিকেল লিংক : বিয়ের প্রলোভনে শারীরিক সম্পর্ক কি ধর্ষণ?

Translated By Momo Rakhain.

Advocate Shipta Barua
Advocate Shipta Baruahttps://legalhome.org
Shipta Barua has been Completed LL.B(Hon's) from Cox's Bazar International University and completed LL.M in Human Rights at Southern University Bangladesh. Writing and discussion about the critical and important topics of law in his choice. For primary Legal support and enrich to the general people legal knowledge he working in the Legal Home & Advocate at the District & Session Judge Court, Cox's Bazar.

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