No Mother Would Help Her Son Commit Rape By Spiking Victim's Drink: Bombay High Court Quashes Case

In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court at Aurangabad, recently held that a mother will never help her son to rape a woman by herself spiking the victim's drink.

A division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Rohit Joshi quashed the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against a man and his mother, both booked for raping a woman and impregnating her. The judges noted that the woman in question met the accused on September 1, 2017 and later in 2018, she delivered a son, to whom the accused gave his name as a father. It, therefore, doubted the contentions of the complainant woman.

"From the contents of the FIR it can be seen that as regards applicant No.2 – the mother is concerned, whatever the act is stated to be done it was in September 2017, when she (complainant) says that some juice was given having intoxicant and thereupon she felt giddiness. It is hard to believe that a mother would help son to commit rape on a lady in such a fashion and then the victim/prosecutrix would keep quiet and allows the child from such rapist, delivered," the judges said in the order passed on December 6.

The bench was hearing a plea for quashing the FIR lodged against the petitioners on September 26, 2019. The judges took note of the photographs furnished by the accused persons, which indicated that the complainant was very much happy and also participated in all the festivals celebrated at the house of the accused persons.

The bench also questioned why the victim woman did not lodge a report in September 2017 itself, when the petitioner mother allegedly spiked her drink and the son then raped her. It also wondered why the woman did not lodge any case even after knowing the fact that the accused was a married person and despite all this, she gave birth to their child and allowed her rapist to give his name as a father to the son.

The woman contended that she was acquainted with the accused as he helped her in the divorce proceedings against her first husband. The woman claimed that her consent was fraudulently obtained on the threat that her videos and photos would be made viral on the internet and thus she was forced to allow the accused to exploit her.

The bench, however, was not impressed with the justifications of the complainant in her delay to lodge the FIR.

"If the first alleged act was of the year September 2017, which she says that it was by way of intoxicating her, then even after she became pregnant from applicant No.1 she has not lodged any report. Merely by saying that she was threatened or was under fear that she would be defamed, she cannot just put an excuse. Further, she is not explaining as to why she allowed the name of applicant No.1 to be recorded as the father of the son born to them," the bench opined.

With these observations the judges quashed the FIR.

Appearance:

Senior Advocate RS Deshmukh and Advocate DR Deshmukh appeared for the Applicants.

Additional Public Prosecutor AM Phule represented the State.

Advocates RG Nirmal and SS Gangakhedkar represented the Complainant.

Case Title: ABC vs Maharashtra (Criminal Application 1815 of 2021)

Click Here To Read/Download Judgment.