Past Relationship No Ground for Consent: Bombay HC Upholds Rape Conviction

The Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench) held that prior intimacy does not imply ongoing consent, and non-consensual intercourse with a former partner amounts to rape.

The Court upheld the conviction of two men in a 2014 gang-rape case. The victim, a Muslim woman, was living with a Hindu man, Dinesh, without divorcing her husband, Wasim. Wasim and his friend Kadir assaulted Dinesh and left him on the railway tracks.

The Court found both men guilty of raping the woman. Despite no medical signs of resistance, her consistent testimony was accepted. The sentence was reduced to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment.