Don't register cases in haste, order top cops
By Mubarak Ansari, Pune Mirror | Jul 7, 2014, 02.30 AM IST
'FALSE' RAPE COMPLAINTS ON RISE
All police stations have been sent judgements by Supreme Court to help policemen tell a 'real' case from false; as many as 106 rape cases lodged across city this year
Concerned with rising 'false rape' cases, top brass of Pune City police have sent Supreme Court judgements on consensual sex to police officers, asking them to not register rape cases in haste and comply with verdicts. Additionally, officers have been told to register rape cases according to specific incidents, as defined in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
If a certain case doesn't fall under the purview of the code, they can register a non-cognisable (NC) offence and direct the victim to a magistrate. According to police officials, many women are filing rape cases against their ex-boyfriends after break-ups and failed live-in relationships.
City police had registered less than 90 rape cases per year till 2012, but saw a sharp rise in rape complaints in the city following the Delhi gang rape in December 2012 and its coverage in the media, with 135 rape cases being registered in the city in 2013 and 106 cases being lodged till June this year.
A police officer from the Crime Branch said, "Despite a rise in awareness, many cases go unreported. In over 90 per cent of rape cases, the accused is known to the victim. Now-a-days, most victims allege that they were raped after false promise of marriage." Last year, the Koregaon Park police arrested a 35-year-old ayurvedic doctor for allegedly raping a New Delhi-based 25-year-old woman.
The woman had started living in with him after he assured her of marriage and introduced her to his family members. In her complaint, the woman alleged that the doctor repeatedly raped her under the pretext of marriage and forced her to undergo an abortion. She registered a rape and cheating complaint against him after he refused to marry her.
In another case when Kondhwa police arrested a 23-year-old marine engineering student for allegedly raping a 21-year-old model on the pretext of marriage.
They had a live-in relationship and the girl lodged a rape and cheating case after he forced her to undergo an abortion and refused to marry her. "Sex after promise of marriage doesn't amount to rape," said citybased criminal lawyer Kainat Ali Shaikh. "When a man and woman enter into a relationship, they are aware of the consequences.
A Delhi High Court judgement states that rape laws are often misused by women to harass their boyfriends for money, and even to force the hapless men to marry them," he added. "According to the IPC, rape is committed if a woman is forced into a sexual relations against her will, without her consent, with consent which has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in fear of death or hurt, etc.
If there is an FIR and an arrest is made, the onus is on the man to prove that the woman's consent for sexual intercourse was voluntary and not under a misconception of fact," he explained.
WRONG TO GENERALISE CASES
However, activist Kiran Moghe of All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) believes that 'courts must restrict themselves from generalising cases'. "People should understand that when a woman agrees to physical relations, it is because of the condition of marriage.
If the man promises to marry but refuses to do so later on, it amounts to rape. Since some years, we have seen various courts generalising rape cases as false cases but there is no provision in law to deal with such cases. Therefore, the court should focus on cases before them and leave the lawmaking part to the Parliament." Advocate Supriya Kothari, who has worked on cases regarding crimes against women, says, "Men should not be charge with rape after a failed relationship. Both are adults and know right from wrong.
If a man backtracks from a promise of marriage after establishing sexual relations with a woman, he should be charged for cheating. On the other hand, if the victim is a minor and a man has intercourse with her after promising marriage, then he should be arrested for rape.
Police should register a rape case after going through statements of the victim from case-to-case basis and the same yardstick should not be applied in all cases. Pune being an education and IT hub, a lot of young men and women enter into relationships but when these turn sour, women approach the police."
Joint Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Sanjay Kumar said, "Apart from passing on the judgements, we have ordered our officers to go by wording of the victim during registering a case after a failed relationship. There is no blanket order about not registering rape cases in such a relationship."
SUPREME COURT VERDICTS
2003 - Uday vs State of Karnataka — consensual sex can never be converted into rape charges
2013 - A bench of Justice B S Chauhan and Justice Deepak Misra said that if a man has consensual sex with a woman with the intention to marry her, then it cannot be termed as rape, even though the marriage does not take place
RAPE CASES IN PUNE CITY
Year No. of cases
2009 ................66
2010 .................89
2011..................65
2012 .................70
2013 .................135
2014 ................. 106
(till June)
WHAT THE LAW (IPC) SAYS?
Section 375 - It lays down six circumstances to qualify as rape. Of this, three are about consent, two about 'misconception', and one is about the statutory age limit
Section 90 - Consent known to be given under fear or misconception
►►► We have ordered our officers to go by the wording of the victim for registering a case after a failed relationship
- SANJAY KUMAR JOINT CP
All police stations have been sent judgements by Supreme Court to help policemen tell a 'real' case from false; as many as 106 rape cases lodged across city this year
Concerned with rising 'false rape' cases, top brass of Pune City police have sent Supreme Court judgements on consensual sex to police officers, asking them to not register rape cases in haste and comply with verdicts. Additionally, officers have been told to register rape cases according to specific incidents, as defined in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
If a certain case doesn't fall under the purview of the code, they can register a non-cognisable (NC) offence and direct the victim to a magistrate. According to police officials, many women are filing rape cases against their ex-boyfriends after break-ups and failed live-in relationships.
City police had registered less than 90 rape cases per year till 2012, but saw a sharp rise in rape complaints in the city following the Delhi gang rape in December 2012 and its coverage in the media, with 135 rape cases being registered in the city in 2013 and 106 cases being lodged till June this year.
A police officer from the Crime Branch said, "Despite a rise in awareness, many cases go unreported. In over 90 per cent of rape cases, the accused is known to the victim. Now-a-days, most victims allege that they were raped after false promise of marriage." Last year, the Koregaon Park police arrested a 35-year-old ayurvedic doctor for allegedly raping a New Delhi-based 25-year-old woman.
The woman had started living in with him after he assured her of marriage and introduced her to his family members. In her complaint, the woman alleged that the doctor repeatedly raped her under the pretext of marriage and forced her to undergo an abortion. She registered a rape and cheating complaint against him after he refused to marry her.
In another case when Kondhwa police arrested a 23-year-old marine engineering student for allegedly raping a 21-year-old model on the pretext of marriage.
They had a live-in relationship and the girl lodged a rape and cheating case after he forced her to undergo an abortion and refused to marry her. "Sex after promise of marriage doesn't amount to rape," said citybased criminal lawyer Kainat Ali Shaikh. "When a man and woman enter into a relationship, they are aware of the consequences.
A Delhi High Court judgement states that rape laws are often misused by women to harass their boyfriends for money, and even to force the hapless men to marry them," he added. "According to the IPC, rape is committed if a woman is forced into a sexual relations against her will, without her consent, with consent which has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in fear of death or hurt, etc.
If there is an FIR and an arrest is made, the onus is on the man to prove that the woman's consent for sexual intercourse was voluntary and not under a misconception of fact," he explained.
WRONG TO GENERALISE CASES
However, activist Kiran Moghe of All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) believes that 'courts must restrict themselves from generalising cases'. "People should understand that when a woman agrees to physical relations, it is because of the condition of marriage.
If the man promises to marry but refuses to do so later on, it amounts to rape. Since some years, we have seen various courts generalising rape cases as false cases but there is no provision in law to deal with such cases. Therefore, the court should focus on cases before them and leave the lawmaking part to the Parliament." Advocate Supriya Kothari, who has worked on cases regarding crimes against women, says, "Men should not be charge with rape after a failed relationship. Both are adults and know right from wrong.
If a man backtracks from a promise of marriage after establishing sexual relations with a woman, he should be charged for cheating. On the other hand, if the victim is a minor and a man has intercourse with her after promising marriage, then he should be arrested for rape.
Police should register a rape case after going through statements of the victim from case-to-case basis and the same yardstick should not be applied in all cases. Pune being an education and IT hub, a lot of young men and women enter into relationships but when these turn sour, women approach the police."
Joint Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Sanjay Kumar said, "Apart from passing on the judgements, we have ordered our officers to go by wording of the victim during registering a case after a failed relationship. There is no blanket order about not registering rape cases in such a relationship."
SUPREME COURT VERDICTS
2003 - Uday vs State of Karnataka — consensual sex can never be converted into rape charges
2013 - A bench of Justice B S Chauhan and Justice Deepak Misra said that if a man has consensual sex with a woman with the intention to marry her, then it cannot be termed as rape, even though the marriage does not take place
RAPE CASES IN PUNE CITY
Year No. of cases
2009 ................66
2010 .................89
2011..................65
2012 .................70
2013 .................135
2014 ................. 106
(till June)
WHAT THE LAW (IPC) SAYS?
Section 375 - It lays down six circumstances to qualify as rape. Of this, three are about consent, two about 'misconception', and one is about the statutory age limit
Section 90 - Consent known to be given under fear or misconception
►►► We have ordered our officers to go by the wording of the victim for registering a case after a failed relationship
- SANJAY KUMAR JOINT CP
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