High Court gives relief to accused husband in case of rape of sister-in-law

New Delhi: Allahabad High Court has given relief to the accused husband in a case of rape of wife’s sister i.e. sister-in-law. The court says that even though the relationship between brother-in-law and sister-in-law is immoral, but if the woman is an adult then this relationship cannot be considered as rape. The accused was arrested in July 2024 and now the court has granted bail.

Justice Sameer Jain’s bench was hearing the case. According to the report of Live Law, the counsel for the applicant told the court that false allegations have been made against the client in this case. He has informed the bench that there was an illicit relationship between the brother-in-law and sister-in-law and when the informant came to know about it, he lodged an FIR.

According to the report, the court was told that the alleged victim is an adult and she had denied the allegations in the statement given under section 161 of CrPC. Later the statement was changed under section 164 of CrPC and supported the case of the prosecution. Here, the AGA opposing the bail could not deny the fact that the alleged victim is an adult and the record does not show that she did not consent.

During the hearing, the court also considered the allegations against the accused, the arguments of both the parties and the fact that the alleged victim had earlier denied the allegations and later changed the statement. It was also said that she had a relationship with the applicant and a married man.

In such a situation, the court says that the relationship is immoral, but it cannot be considered rape as the alleged victim is an adult. The court also considered that there was an illicit relationship between the applicant and the victim. The accused has no criminal history and was arrested in July 2024. Keeping these facts in mind, the court granted bail to the accused.