NEW DELHI: Can a woman be booked in a rape case? The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Punjab Police to a petition by a 62-year-old woman booked on rape charges on the complaint of her daughter-in-law, who had got married to her son through a video call.
Appearing for the 62-year-old woman petitioner, advocate Rishi Malhotra argued before a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol that the SC had ruled that a woman cannot be booked in a gang rape case and the core of the principle was that a woman cannot be made an accused in a rape case.
The complainant had alleged that the petitioner’s elder son who lives in the USA had befriended her through Facebook and as their friendship blossomed, he proposed marriage. She claimed that she consented to marriage as he had threatened to commit suicide if she didn’t marry him. The marriage was solemnised in September last year through a video call.
After the marriage, the complainant started living with the mother-in-law. The petitioner woman said that her younger son came from Portugal and stayed with her for sometime. While he was going back, the daughter-in-law insisted he take her along with him, but he left for Portugal on January 31 this year. Immediately after he left, the daughter-in-law and her family members allegedly pressured the mother-in-law to annul the marriage with her elder son. On February 5, a settlement was arrived at by which the mother-in-law gave Rs 11 lakh to the complainant for annulment of the marriage.
The petitioner alleged that the demands increased thereafter and when she refused to comply, the estranged daughter-in-law filed a sexual assault case against her and her younger son on February 22. The complainant alleged that the petitioner’s younger son raped her and took her nude pictures while her mother-in-law had silenced her protests against the sexual assault.
Importantly, the 62-year-old woman’s anticipatory bail was rejected by a Gurdaspur sessions court.
Her plea for pre-arrest bail was also rejected by the Punjab and Haryana HC on November 3.
Appearing for the 62-year-old woman petitioner, advocate Rishi Malhotra argued before a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol that the SC had ruled that a woman cannot be booked in a gang rape case and the core of the principle was that a woman cannot be made an accused in a rape case.
The complainant had alleged that the petitioner’s elder son who lives in the USA had befriended her through Facebook and as their friendship blossomed, he proposed marriage. She claimed that she consented to marriage as he had threatened to commit suicide if she didn’t marry him. The marriage was solemnised in September last year through a video call.
After the marriage, the complainant started living with the mother-in-law. The petitioner woman said that her younger son came from Portugal and stayed with her for sometime. While he was going back, the daughter-in-law insisted he take her along with him, but he left for Portugal on January 31 this year. Immediately after he left, the daughter-in-law and her family members allegedly pressured the mother-in-law to annul the marriage with her elder son. On February 5, a settlement was arrived at by which the mother-in-law gave Rs 11 lakh to the complainant for annulment of the marriage.
The petitioner alleged that the demands increased thereafter and when she refused to comply, the estranged daughter-in-law filed a sexual assault case against her and her younger son on February 22. The complainant alleged that the petitioner’s younger son raped her and took her nude pictures while her mother-in-law had silenced her protests against the sexual assault.
Importantly, the 62-year-old woman’s anticipatory bail was rejected by a Gurdaspur sessions court.
Her plea for pre-arrest bail was also rejected by the Punjab and Haryana HC on November 3.
