New Delhi: Live-in-relationship is not merely residing together, it is about the commitment to be with your loved one in future as well, a Delhi court said while holding an MBA student guilty for raping several times his partner on the pretext of marrying her.
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna, who convicted 31-year-old Hari Mohan Sharma for ravishing his live-in partner, a LL.B student, has fixed the case on December 13 for pronouncement of sentence which may extend to life imprisonment.
"Concept of live–in–relationship does not mean merely residing together, rather, it means to live in a commitment or in a relation of being together in future.
"In our society, when a woman enters into this kind of relationship, she has in her mind, only a marriage in future. However, when such relationship ends abruptly, it means a lot to the woman," the court said, adding the girl was forced to abort their fetus.
Sharma, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was arrested and later faced the trial in the case lodged by his partner in which she alleged he has raped her several times between December, 2010 and January, 2011 on the pretext of marrying her.
The police said the girl had lodged a complaint in August, 2011 when she became pregnant and Sharma had refused to marry her, saying his parents are against their affair.
Sharma had denied the rape allegation against him during the trial and said he has been falsely implicated.
However, the court rejected Sharma's plea noting that "the intention of the accused, right from the beginning, was never honest and he kept on promising her that he would marry her".
The court said the accused very well knew that his father would be against the love marriage and would not pay his fee but even then he continued "misusing" the girl till she became pregnant.
