Sending “obscene messages” to a woman with whom one will tie the nuptial knot does not qualify to be called insulting her modesty, observed a Mumbai court.
According to the court, before the solemnization of marriage, such messages might provide the feeling that she is close enough to understand his emotions.
However, if she doesn’t like those, she can apprise him of her displeasure, following which he would avoid repeating the “mistake”, the court said.
The court made this observation while acquitting a 36-year-old man accused of cheating and raping a woman after falsely promising her marriage. The woman had lodged a case against the man in 2010, said a report.
“If at all those [‘obscene messages’] are not liked by the other side, it has the discretion with it to convey its displeasure to the other side and the other side generally avoids a repeat of the mistake. The purpose was to put up his expectations before her, to arouse her with a similar feeling of sex, which may give happiness even to her, etc. But in no way those SMSs can be said as were sent to insult her modesty,” The Times of India quoted the court order as saying.
As per the case details, in 2017, the man and the woman met through a matrimonial website. The two were in a relationship for two years and wanted to get married. The man had rented a house to stay with her. Later, he had got an apartment, owned by his family, renovated to live with her. His mother, however, was did not want him to get married to the woman. His mother had refused to let him stay in either of the houses after the proposed matrimonial alliance, TOI reported.
The man snapped ties with the woman in 2010, following which she lodged a case of rape on the false promise of marriage.
The court acquitted the man, saying that every breach of marriage promise cannot make a case of cheating or rape.
“He had been to Arya Samaj Hall with a mangalsutra but it was the quarrel on the ground of stay after marriage and thereafter, by getting tired of his indecisiveness and getting surrendered before his mother’s wish and failing to tackle the problem stood before him,” TOI quoted the court as saying.
Holding that it was a case of “failure to make substantial efforts” to make marriage possible, the court rejected the woman’s claim that the man’s promise of marriage was false.
The court further stated before getting married, it wasn’t necessary for the woman to let the man indulge in sexual activities with her.
She, however, chose to opt for it, as she blindly believed that they would get married despite being aware of the opposition against their alliance.
The court stated that it respects the emotions of the woman who fought for justice for nearly 11 years but in this case, the offence of rape has not been committed by the man.