"Victim A Major, Went To Hotel Room On Her Own Sweet Will": Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To Man Booked Under UP Anti-Conversion Law

The Allahabad High Court last week granted bail to a man booked under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religion Conversion Act, 2020 who has been accused of committing rape upon the victim in a room of a hotel

Noting that the victim is a major and had a consenting relationship with the accused, the Bench of Justice Samit Gopal observed thus:

"The (bail) applicant and the first informant/victim were in a relationship for long and she used to spend time with the applicant and used to travel with him and went to a room of a hotel on her own sweet-will."

The matter before the Court

This bail application had been filed by one Sonu Rajpoot @ Zubair in connection with offences under 376, 420, 506 I.P.C. and 3/5 U.P. Prohibition of Unlawful Religion Conversion Act.

The counsel for the applicant argued that the applicant had been falsely implicated in the instant case and that although in the text of the FIR the victim, who is the first informant herself had not disclosed her age but she had stated that she is a working person and her year of birth had been mentioned as 1995 which goes to show that she is major.

It was further argued that the FIR had been registered after a delay of more than a month and the same was unexplained and that the victim, on her own free will travelled with the applicant as both of them had a love affair and used to spend time together.

On the other hand, the victim stated that initially, she did not know that the applicant was a Muslim but when she saw his name written in the register of the hotel where she had gone with the applicant and physical relation was established between them as Zubair, and then she came to know that he was a Muslim and then a dispute arose between them.

Court's order

Looking at the facts and circumstances of this case, the nature of evidence and also the absence of any convincing material to indicate the possibility of tampering with the evidence, the Court ordered that the applicant be enlarged on bail on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court.

Case title - Sonu Rajpoot @ Zubair v. State of U.P

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