Court sends man who married rape survivor to jail

A man has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for raping a woman in Mumbai in 2017. The man had later married the survivor, but the court observed that this was never proved by producing defence evidence before it.

MUMBAI: The sessions court on Friday sentenced a man to three and a half years in prison for raping a woman in Shivaji Nagar of Govandi in 2017. The man had later married the survivor and has an eight-month-old child born out of the wedlock.

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The court, while holding the man guilty of rape, observed that the accused married the survivor and they have a child was never proved by producing defence evidence before it. Only after holding the 31-year-old man guilty, the accused’s lawyer contended that he had married the woman and they have a child, the court observed.

The survivor had claimed that on August 15, 2017, the accused had called her to his house on the pretext that he wanted to speak to her. She claimed that when she entered the house, the accused closed the room and began removing his clothes. The woman attacked the man with a blade and rescued herself. She later informed her family about the incident. A case was registered and the man was arrested the same day.

Public prosecutor Geeta Sharma contended that the trial court has no power to overlook the evidence brought on record in the light of subsequent events. Otherwise, every accused will commit rape and subsequently perform marriage with the survivor and will get the benefit of the subsequent event, Sharma said.

The court accepted the argument and observed that the man had not proved his marriage with the woman by bringing admissible evidence before it.