HC quashes rape case against cop, imposes cost of ₹25,000 on complainant

Bombay HC strikes down FIR against traffic police constable accused of rape; woman gives consent for quashing case, wants to move on with her life.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has recently struck down an FIR registered against a traffic police constable from Solapur for allegedly raping his colleague under a false promise of marriage and forcing her to abort her child after she conceived. In the affidavit giving consent for quashing the case, the woman stated that the wanted to leave her past behind.

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“Having gone through the records, in our considered view, the facts narrated in the FIR as well as other material on record even if accepted in totality, do not disclose any offence of serious and heinous nature,” the division bench of justice Anuja Prabhudessai and justice NR Borkar said while striking down the criminal proceedings against the traffic police constable and some other persons related to him and the doctor who had medically terminated pregnancy of the complainant.

Based on the traffic policewoman’s complaint, the Barshi police in Solapur district in 2018 registered an offence against her male colleague and five others, including the doctor who had medically terminated her pregnancy.

In her statement to the police, the complainant stated that she met the accused while in a traffic cell at Barshi City police station and the divorce proceedings filed by her were pending. She alleged that the accused promised to marry her after she secured a divorce and under that guise established a physical relationship with her. She added that she conceived twice during her relationship with the accused, who allegedly forced her to terminate the pregnancies both times.

All the six accused had moved high court this year for quashing of the criminal proceedings, with the consent of the complainant. In her affidavit giving consent for quashing the case, the woman stated that she was now married, with a child and that she wanted to proceed with her matrimonial life, leaving the past behind.

Apart from her consent, the bench also took into consideration the material submitted by the policeman and others and found that no offence was made against them.

“The allegations made in the FIR and the other material on record, even if accepted in their entirety, reveal that the physical relationship between the policeman and the complainant was consensual,” the bench said.

The bench added that the policewoman had indulged in a sexual relationship with her male colleague during the subsistence of her first marriage and hence, there was no question of her consent being vitiated due to misconception of fact. “Suffice it to say that consensual physical relationship between two adults does not constitute rape within the meaning of section 375 of IPC,” the bench said.

As regards, the termination of her pregnancies, the bench noted that though the woman alleged that the abortions were without her consent, she continued her relationship with the accused even after her first pregnancy was terminated and besides the medical record all along showed her consent was obtained at all levels.

The bench also imposed a litigation cost of ₹25,000 on the complainant and ordered her to pay the amount to Tata Memorial Hospital.