Accused said he would marry the woman only if she paid him Rs 15 lakhs
.jpg "Love, sex aur dhoka: High Court denies bail")
Bangalore High Court
Bengaluru: In a classic case of love, sex aur dhoka in real life, a 32-year-old man wooed a young woman, promised her marriage but went back on his word after repeated physical intimacy. Later he compounded his offence by demanding 15 lakhs and 300 grams of gold, if the woman wanted him to marry her.
The 22-year-old victim, a law student, hauled him to court. The latter rejected bail for him after examining the prima facie evidence produced by the young lady, including a series of ‘messages’ sent to her by the accused, promising marriage if she paid him Rs 15 lakhs in cash. She also produced a document to show that the accused had changed his name on the social networks.
The con man is now facing criminal charges, punishable under Sections 376, 420 and 506 of IPC. He had approached the high court, anticipating arrest. The prosecution said that the accused was a habitual offender and that he was needed to be kept in custody for medical tests and further investigation. “He is involved in many criminal cases. This is evident from the text messages sent from his mobile,” the prosecution argued.
The bench was unmoved by the advocate for the petitioner’s arguments that the offence involved was breach of promise (punishable under Section 417, IPC and not section 376, IPC) and not rape. He also argued that the petitioner was ready to undergo the medical tests and co-operate with the investigating officers.
The FIR lodged by the police states: “A lady (name not mentioned) aged 22 years is a resident of Jayanagar locality of Bengaluru city. She is studying in the 5th year LLB course. She had come in contact with this petitioner and he had assured her of marriage and on the said pretext, he had sexual contact with her many times. Of late he has backed out on his promise to marry her and has demanded a huge sum of money and gold. As could be seen from the text messages produced by the advocate for the petitioner, it is evident that they have been talking to each other for a long time and some of them are objectionable text messages.”
Apart from this, the text messages allegedly sent by the accused to the victim indicate that he was ready to marry her provided she paid him Rs 15 lakhs. Considering all this prima facie evidence, the high court rejected bail for the accused on the grounds that he is required for custodial interrogation. The court has also stated that the accused was at liberty to approach the court directly after surrendering before the police or the jurisdictional court.
( Source : dc )
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