Mumbai: HC quashes rape case against Dubai-based CA

The Bombay high court on Wednesday quashed criminal proceedings against a 47-year-old chartered accountant from Dubai on charges that he had raped a 48-year-old divorcee after promising to marry her. The duo had met through a matrimonial portal.

The Bombay high court on Wednesday quashed criminal proceedings against a 47-year-old chartered accountant from Dubai on charges that he had raped a 48-year-old divorcee after promising to marry her. The duo had met through a matrimonial portal.

The complainant had registered with a portal and contacted the chartered accountant, also a divorcee. After formal family meetings and necessary enquiries, the two decided to get married. The CA then sent documents to register the marriage and on the basis of the same, the complainant even put out a notice of marriage on August 24, 2012.

On February 5, 2013, the woman approached Kothrud police station in Pune and lodged a complaint alleging that between June and October 2012, the CA maintained physical relations with her after promising to marry her.

The high court, however, found that the actual decision to cancel the marriage had been taken by the woman’s side, and not by the chartered accountant. The division bench of justice Ranjit More and justice Anuja Prabhudessai held that the facts of the case unequivocally showed that the CA had been serious about marrying the complainant, however, the marriage could not go ahead because of some strict conditions imposed by the complainant, to which the CA was not agreeable.

After noting that the CA was in touch with his ex-wife even after the divorce for the schooling and career of his 13-year-old son, the woman had forbade him from being in touch with his ex-wife. The condition, however, was not acceptable to the CA and the woman’s father cancelled the marriage plan.

The court quashed the criminal proceedings saying the continuation of the prosecution would be an abuse of the process of court.