The Patna High Court, in a recent judgment, has granted anticipatory bail to a Border Security Force (BSF) Jawan who was accused of deceiving and sexually assaulting a woman under the guise of a marriage proposal. The court, after examining the evidence, deduced that there was no indication that the promise of marriage was insincere from the outset.
The BSF Jawan’s plea for anticipatory bail was in relation to a 2022 case, initially filed under Sections 493 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. However, after further scrutiny, the charges were altered to Sections 420/376 of the IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
The prosecution’s narrative was that the woman and the BSF Jawan’s sister were friends. The Jawan, accompanied by his sister, frequently visited the woman’s residence, where he expressed his desire to marry her. The woman, trusting his intentions, asked him to discuss their relationship with her parents. Her parents, in response, clarified that they wouldn’t provide any dowry, to which the Jawan agreed. It was alleged that he later gifted her a mobile phone and subsequently engaged in physical relations with her under the pretense of marriage.
However, the situation took a turn when the Jawan allegedly reneged on his promise to marry and demanded ₹10 lakhs and a Bullet motorcycle. The woman also claimed that she and her family were threatened by the Jawan’s associates, warning them against approaching the police or seeking legal recourse.
Refuting these allegations, the Jawan’s counsel argued that their client was wrongly implicated. They maintained that there was no intimate relationship between the two parties and that the marriage proposal was withdrawn due to the woman’s family’s attitude.
Justice Sunil Dutta Mishra, after reviewing the case, remarked,
“In the present case, as per the prosecution case, the petitioner and the informant were involved in the consensual physical relationship; they were known to each other for six years, talks of marriage held between their family members but the same had not been concluded. There is no evidence to support that the promise to marry made to informant was false at the inception. The petitioner has taken an undertaking to cooperate with the police in the investigation.”
Given the circumstances and the legal perspective, the court approved the anticipatory bail application. The Jawan was instructed to either surrender or, if arrested, be released on bail within six weeks from the judgment date.
The case, titled Rohitash Kumar Vs The State of Bihar, with the citation Criminal Misc. No. 3774 of 2023, continues to be under review.
