Man uses ‘live-in agreement’ to get bail in rape case

A sessions court recently granted bail to a 46yearold Colaba resident accused of raping a 29yearold womanAccording to the police the accused had produced a sevenpoint 11month agreement that he claimed the complainant had signed which included a clause exempting him from taking responsibility of any sort if they ended up having a physical relationship The womanrsquos lawyer meanwhile stated in court that the signature on the document was not hersAccording to the cops the woman works as a caregiver for the elderly while the accused is employed by a government firm The complainant alleged that the accused who had promised to marry her claiming he was divorced had raped her multiple times and refused to tie the knotThe document mentions that the man and woman would live together for 11 months Representation PicAs per her statement to the police the woman said she was introduced to the accused by a friend in October 2023 She claimed that on her first visit to the accusedrsquos house he introduced himself as a government employee After a few hours of conversation the complainant informed the accused that she was a divorcee and had a son The accused then allegedly had physical relations with her with her consent after he convinced her he would marry herThe complainant said they would keep in touch over the phone and after a few days the accused asked the woman to accompany him to Alibaug along with his friends During this outing for five days they had intercourse according to the statementlsquoHe blackmailed mersquoAfter a few more meetings the accused allegedly informed her that he had objectionable photographs of her which he would make public if she stopped meeting him The woman claimed that she got pregnant and when she informed the accused of this he offered her pills that terminated the pregnancyIn January the accused allegedly pursued the woman asking her to visit his home When she did so she found a woman there who identified herself as the wife of the accused ldquoI realised that despite being wed the accused cheated me by promising to marry merdquo she said in her statementFollowing the incident the woman registered an FIR at Colaba police station on August 23 The accused subsequently approached sessions court for anticipatory bail and he was granted it on August 29 based on the documentThe lsquoagreementrsquoThe document mentions that the man and woman would stay together in a livein relationship from August 1 2024 to June 30 2025The second clause states that during this period they would not file any sexual harassment cases against each other and spend their time together peacefullyThe third clause states that the woman would stay with the man at his home and if he found her behaviour unsuitable they could separate at any time after a monthrsquos noticeThe fourth clause states that the womanrsquos relatives could not visit their home during their time togetherAccording to the fifth clause the woman should not cause any harassment or mental agony to the manThe sixth clause states if the woman got pregnant the man should not be held accountable and she would be solely responsibleThe seventh clause states the woman would be held accountable if due to harassment the accused experienced mental trauma causing his life to be damagedLegal SpeakAdvocate Sunil Pandey who appeared on behalf of the man stated ldquoThe applicant was falsely implicated in the case He is a victim of circumstances They were in a livein relationship The agreement shows that both had consented to be in a relationship One day she started blackmailing the applicant She demanded money and tried to grab propertyrdquoVishhal Saxxenaa advocate and legal expert said ldquoAny agreement for livein relations can be a proof to show the intentions of the parties It can work as proof that there were no deceitful means So in case of a police complaint about physical relations by using deceitful means a livein relation agreement can negate such allegations While it is not necessary to make such an agreement it can work as a safety measure for couplesrdquoHe added ldquoThe Honrsquoble Supreme Court has said that a livein relationship is not a criminal offence or illegal Partners living together without being married do not have the same legal rights as married couples but they have legal protection under lawsrdquoPolice reactionPI Jyoti Damale of Colaba police station the investigating officer in the case said ldquoThis is the first time in all my years of service that Irsquove come across such a livein relationship The sessions court granted anticipatory bail based on the agreement and a Supreme Court judgment passed in a special case We are verifying this agreement We will call the witnesses in for questioning and record their statements We were not aware of this agreement initiallyrdquoIn the case referred to by Damale the accused and defendant were divorcees and had children According to the apex court judgment the woman could not claim rape ldquoThe prosecutrix being a married woman and the mother of a child was mature and intelligent enough to understand the significance and the consequences of the moral or immoral quality of the act she was consenting tordquo the court had observed