SC grants bail to man accused of kidnapping, raping live-in partner

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has granted bail to a man accused of kidnapping and raping his live-in partner belonging to a different religious faith.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia noted that the interfaith couple had a live-in relationship agreement and even jointly filed a petition for police protection.

The Court also noted the petitioner was behind bars for nine months.

"Three factors weigh with us. The live-in relationship agreement of August 25, 2022, the parties filing a joint petition for police protection especially as an interfaith couple and the petitioner has already been in custody for about nine months.

"In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, we grant bail to the appellant on terms and conditions to the satisfaction of the trial court," the bench said.

Advocate Namit Saxena, appearing for the accused, submitted that the girl's statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) made it clear that the relationship between them was consensual.

The top court was hearing a petition filed by a 22-year-old Muslim man challenging an order of the Rajasthan High Court dismissing his bail plea.

The plea said the petitioner and the woman are neighbours and fell in love with each other.

"While the petitioner belongs to Muslim community, the alleged victim and her family follow the Hindu religion. That the couple wanted to marry each other and spend life together. however, this was not agreeable to the family of the alleged victim due to religious differences.

"That the couple ultimately eloped to marry each other and also entered into a live-in relationship agreement dated August 25, 2022 to attain some societal status," the petition said.

It said a day after they eloped, the girl's father filed a missing report. Later, he lodged a first information report (FIR) against the petitioner, alleging the man kidnapped and raped his daughter.