Increasing false allegations of rape in consensual relationships
- Police stations receive a heap of FIRs from women alleging "rape" when long-term relationships end or when there is family pressure to register an FIR once a woman's sexual relationship is discovered.
Issues of consensual sexual relations
- Section 375 - a man is said to have committed rape if he has sexual intercourse with a woman "without her consent".
- Section 90 - spells out that consent given "under a misconception is not consent in the eye of the law.
- A woman may argue that her consent was accorded under the "misconception" that the accused was going to marry her.
- As the marriage did not take place, the consent to sexual intercourse is to be considered null.
Consequences of overkill in cases of consensual relationships
- Law being used as an instrument of arm-twisting, blackmail, extortion and disproportionate revenge
- Immense harassment, including imprisonment
- Financial burden of seeking bail
- Getting through long-winded trials
- Undue burdening of the criminal justice system.
What should be done
- More seriousness should be accorded to Section 375.
- Need to institute a system of detailed preliminary enquiry for complaints before registering an FIR.
- Would protect the genuine victims & curb abuse of law.
Conclusion
- A law that allows only women to revisit their past consensual sexual choices, and subsequently criminalises the same, is also paradoxical to women's sexual liberation and empowerment.