‘Repeated rape under death threats’: Punjab and Haryana HC denies bail to accused of raping, blackmailing woman

The Punjab and Haryana high court observed that the case involved alleged repeated sexual abuse under threats, not a simple consensual relationship

The Punjab and Haryana high court has denied bail to a man accused of repeatedly raping a young woman after allegedly making an obscene video and using it to threaten and blackmail her, observing that the allegations did not present a “simple case of a sexual relationship”.

The Punjab and Haryana high court dismissed the bail plea of a man accused of repeatedly raping a woman and blackmailing (HT File Photo)

Justice Ramesh Kumari, while dismissing the bail plea, observed, “It is not a simple case of a sexual relationship between a young boy and a young girl, but of her repeated physical abuse under threat after making her obscene video.”

The accused had approached the high court seeking regular bail in an FIR registered in Rohtak for rape in August 2025. He was arrested in October 2025.

According to the prosecution’s case, the complainant, a college student, was allegedly taken to a flat after attending a youth festival, where the accused sexually assaulted her and recorded an obscene video.

It was alleged that the accused subsequently used the video to blackmail her and threatened to harm her family if she disclosed the incident.

Accused claims relationship was consensual

His counsel, Arman Goyal, argued that the accused had been falsely implicated and that the complainant was in a consensual relationship with him. There were no WhatsApp chats or call details showing threats or blackmail. The complainant and her parents had already been examined during the trial, the court was told.

The government counsel and complainant’s counsel, Himanshu Malik, had submitted that the allegations are grave and the case is not one of a consensual relationship but of repeated sexual exploitation allegedly carried out through threats and blackmail after recording an obscene video. “The accused had allegedly raped the complainant after administering her an intoxicating substance, recorded a video and, thereafter, threatened to make it public while repeatedly subjecting her to sexual assault,” Malik had submitted further pointing out that the complainant had stood by the prosecution version before the trial court and her parents had also supported the case.

Court cites seriousness of allegations in denying bail

The high court while denying bail to the accused noted that the complainant, in her testimony during trial, had made specific allegations of repeated rape under threats that she and her family would be killed if she disclosed the matter. Her father and mother had also supported the prosecution case and of the 15 prosecution witnesses, only three had been examined so far, the court noted.

“In view of the seriousness of the allegations against him, it is not a fit case for grant of regular bail to the petitioner,” the court held, dismissing the petition.