Rape accused acquitted, court says no woman of 'ordinary prudence' would visit hotel room on first meeting

Mumbai: In an unusual turn of events, the Bombay High Court has acquitted a rape accused, ruling that the woman’s behaviour was inconsistent with that of a person of “ordinary prudence.”

In the case which was heard recently, Justice GA Sanap of the Nagpur Bench observed, “In my opinion, this conduct of the victim is not consistent with the conduct of a person of ordinary prudence placed in a similar situation.”

Regarding the woman’s claim that the man had booked a hotel room for their meeting, Justice Sanap remarked, “A girl meeting a young boy for the first time would not go to a hotel room. Such a conduct on the part of a boy would obviously send the alarming signals to the girl.”

He further commented that if a girl accompanied an unknown person to a secluded area and encountered trouble, she would likely cry out for help. “Even if, on some promise, the girl accompanies an unknown person to a room and if she is put in any trouble, then she is bound to raise hue and cry,” he stated.

Justice Sanap also said that the hotel room was not far from the hotel’s busy areas, stating that the circumstances of the alleged incident in the hotel room “appear to be unbelievable,” according to Lawbeat.

“The occurrence of the incident in the hotel room, therefore, appears to be unbelievable. The subsequent conduct of the victim is not consistent,” Justice Sanap’s order read.

The decision came as the court was reviewing an appeal by the accused, who had been convicted by a Sessions Court.

It may be noted that the woman, in her complaint, had alleged that she connected with the man on Facebook and later exchanged phone numbers. The man then took her to a hotel room, where he allegedly asked her to change into a T-shirt he provided and took photographs of her while she was changing.

According to the woman, the boy reportedly threatened to share the photos if she refused to have sexual intercourse.

Fearing that she would have to face shame, she agreed but even after that, the accused still shared the photos on Facebook and with her relatives. Angeredover the boy's action, the woman filed an FIR against him.

The bench also observed that although the photos were made public in March 2017, there has been a delay in filing the report which was done in October 2017. After noticing the attitude of the accused, the woman could have ended the relationship. It is possible that the accused might have decided to trouble them by posting the girl's pictures on social media, following which the parents would have lodged the report,” the court stated.