NEW DELHI: The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court has overturned a controversial decision by the Margao Trial Courtruling that a woman’s decision to book a hotel room and enter it with a man does not imply her consent to sexual intercourse, reported Live Law.
In a judgment delivered on September 3 and made public recently, a single-judge bench led by Justice Bharat P Deshpande dismissed a discharge order from March 2021 that had closed a rape case against the accused, Gulsher Ahmed. The trial court had originally held that since the woman booked the hotel room and entered it with the accused, she had implicitly consented to sexual activity. As a result, the trial court had cleared Ahmed of the charges.
The high court found this reasoning to be fundamentally flawed. “Drawing such an inference is clearly against the settled proposition and specifically when the complaint was lodged immediately after the incident,” the high court said. Justice Deshpande emphasized that the mere act of entering the hotel room with the accused did not imply consent for sexual intercourse, regardless of the circumstances. “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,” the high court added.
The case dates back to March 2020 when Ahmed allegedly lured the woman with the promise of overseas employment. He convinced her to meet in a hotel room, claiming it was for a discussion with an employment agency. The complaint alleges that both the victim and Ahmed had booked the room together. Once inside, Ahmed allegedly threatened the woman with death and raped her.
After the assault, the woman fled when Ahmed left the room briefly. She immediately reported the incident to the police, leading to Ahmed’s arrest. He was charged under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Despite the victim’s prompt report and the charges against Ahmed, the trial court dismissed the case, concluding that the woman’s actions implied consent. However, after a lengthy three-year legal battle, the Bombay high court found this conclusion to be a legal error and reinstated the charges, effectively reopening the case.
