SC on sanctity of marriage

SC on sanctity of marriage

 

New Delhi, PTI: Love-making by a married man with a woman after making her believe that he was unmarried or on the promise of marriage is rape, the Supreme Court has ruled.

"Since he was already married, subsequent marriage, if any, has no sanctity in law and is void ab-initio (illegal from the inception)," a bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and P Sathasivam observed in a judgement. The apex court rejected the argument of the convict Bhupinder Singh, an employee of State Bank of Patiala, that since the victim, Manjit Kaur, consented to sex despite knowing his marital status the ingredients of Section 376 (rape) would not apply in his case.

Previously, a sessions court in Chandigarh had sentenced Bhupinder Singh to seven years RI and a fine of Rs 10,000 on charges of fathering Kaur's child despite the fact that he was already married and a father. The victim married Singh after the latter made her believe he was unmarried.

Singh on his part denied having married Kaur, but on the basis of various documents, the court sentenced him to seven years RI.