How an act Amount to Rape or Not a Rape

How an act Amount to Rape or Not a Rape

What is Rape?

Rape is a crime against ones mind, psyche, and reputation. Rape leaves a permanent scar on the life of the victim and it becomes horrendous for the victim of rape to lead a dignified and well-respected life in the society. It is very unfortunate that there is a high increase in the rape instances and ravenous maniacs are not even sparing the girls of very tender age. Some of the recent rape cases have been so horrifying that the entire nation protested to condemn these barbaric acts and raised a voice to curb the said menace by inflicting more severe punishment.

Definition of Rape In Indian Law

Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code defines the expression “RAPE”, in five clauses. Which indicates that the first clause operates, where the woman is in possession of her senses, and therefore, capable of consenting but the act is done against her will; and second, where it is done without her consent; the third, fourth and fifth, when there is consent, but it is not such a consent as excuses the offender, because it is obtained by putting her on any person in whom she is interested in fear of death or of hurt. The expression “against her will” means that the act must have been done in spite of the opposition of the woman. An inference as to consent can be drawn if only based on evidence or probabilities of the case. “Consent” is also stated to be an act of reason coupled with deliberation. It denotes an active will in the mind of a person to permit the doing of an act complained of. Section 90 IPC refers to the expression “consent”. “Consent”, for the purpose of Section 375 of IPC, requires voluntary participation not only after the exercise of intelligence based on the knowledge of the significance and moral quality of the act but after having fully exercised the choice between resistance and assent.

In short, in case of rape, the act of sexual intercourse is forcible and without consent of the woman and if there is sexual intercourse with consent by fraud, it also amounts to rape.

What is Not Rape?

A Consensual Sex is Not a Rape

Undoubtedly there is a manifold increase in the crime concerning rapes, but all the rape cases which are filed have their own individual story and factual matrix. While most of the cases may be genuine, wherein the girl is a victim of the this horrifying crime, or has been forced, blackmailed, threatened to enter into physical relationship with a male on the false pretext of marriage with the sole intent to physically exploit the girl but there may be cases where both persons out of their own will and choice, develop a physical relationship with a man but when the relationship breaks due to one or the other reason, the women use the law as a weapon for vengeance and personal vendetta to extort money and sometimes even to force the boy to get married to her. Out anger and frustration, they tend to convert such consensual sex as an incident of rape, defeating the very purpose of the provision.

There is a clear demarcation between rape and consensual sex and in cases where such controversies are involved, the court must very cautiously examine the intentions of both the individuals involved and to check if even the girl, on the other hand, is genuine or had malafide motives. Criminal cases like these not only make a mockery of the sacred institution of marriage but also inflate the statistics of rape cases which further deprecates our own society.

For example, when a woman is major and educated and depending on facts on the case, she is supposed to be fully aware of the consequences of having sexual intercourse with a man who already married, then the person not guilty of rape. Second example if a man who disclosed his marital status( he is married) to the women and after that made relation with her consent that also not amount a rape.

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