Girl Booking Hotel Room, Entering It With Boy Does Not Mean She Consented To Sex: Bombay High Court

In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court at Goa held that even if a girl books a hotel room along with a man and goes inside the room, it would not mean that she has consented to sexual intercourse.

Single-judge Justice Bharat Deshpande quashed an order passed by a Trial Court in Margao on March 3, 2021, discharging a man from rape charge. The Trial Court in its order, opined that since the girl was instrumental in booking the room in the hotel, she 'consented' to the sexual activity that took place inside the room and thus a rape charge cannot be slapped against Gulsher Ahmed. 

In his order passed on September 3 but made available recently, Justice Deshpande observed that the Trial judge 'clearly committed an error' by making the observation that since the victim went inside the room, she consented to sexual intercourse.

"Drawing such an inference is clearly against the settled proposition and specifically when the complaint was lodged immediately after the incident. Even if it is accepted that the victim went inside the room along with the accused, the same cannot by any stretch of imagination be considered as her consent for sexual intercourse," Justice Deshpande said in the order.

The Trial Court, Justice Deshpande opined, mixed two aspects i.e. going inside with the accused in a room without any protest and secondly, giving consent for what happened in the room.

"The action on the part of the victim immediately after coming out of the room and that too crying, calling the Police and lodging a complaint on that day itself show that the overt act allegedly carried out in the room by the accused was not consensual," the judge said.

The incident took place on March 3, 2020, when the accused promised the victim a private job abroad. He took the victim to a hotel in Margao allegedly on the pretext of meeting an agent for the said purpose. The victim and the accused, both together booked the room in the hotel. 

However, as per the victim, soon after entering the hotel room, the accused threatened to kill her and raped her. When he went into the bathroom, she left the room and came running out of the hotel, crying, and called the police and the accused was immediately arrested. 

Justice Deshpande noted that this entire scene was also narrated by the employees of the hotel. The judge, junked the contention of the accused that the victim girl, had no problem in booking the hotel room and in fact, before entering the room, they had lunch together and thus, she consented to the sexual intercourse.

"It is no doubt true that there is material to show that the accused and the victim were instrumental in booking the room, however, that would not be considered as consent given by the Victim for the purpose of sexual intercourse," the judge reiterated.

Appearance:

Public Prosecutor SG Bhobe appeared for the State.

Advocates Kautuk Raikar and Digaj Bene represented the Accused.

Case Details: State through Canacona Police Station vs Gulsher Ahmed (Criminal Revision Application 6 of 2021)

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Bom) 579

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