Mumbai: Man charged under new law for misleading lover

The man allegedly initiated physical intimacy despite the objections of the complainant. Representation Pic

The Bhandup police have registered a case under newly introduced sections addressing crimes against women, based on the complaint of a female junior artiste. They have invoked Section 69 (sexual intercourse by employing deceitful means, etc) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The woman has alleged that she was raped on the pretext of marriage and forced to undergo an abortion by the man. Section 69 was added to the BNS to ensure justice for women in cases like these, which were previously categorised as rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) but often treated as technical cases.

Section 69 pertains to cases where consensual intercourse cannot be considered rape. The old law was often misused, with several rape cases being registered even though intercourse was consensual. Investigators faced challenges in determining whether such cases constituted rape, which allowed the accused to evade legal consequences by arguing that intercourse was consensual, even if false promises had been made. Now, Section 69 clarifies that while such acts may not be classified as rape, they still carry serious legal consequences, including up to ten years of imprisonment and potential fines.

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According to the FIR registered with the Bhandup police, the 31-year-old complainant is a junior artiste working in the television industry. In her statement, she told the police that she met the accused, Vijay Patil, 30, at a gym. They became friends as he lived near her residence. The woman claimed that their friendship evolved into a romantic relationship and they began communicating frequently through text messages and phone calls. She stated that in May, Patil entered her house around 1 am and initiated physical intimacy despite her objections.

The woman added that Patil promised to marry her afterwards, and they continued to meet multiple times, during which they had a physical relationship. According to the FIR, she became pregnant sometime between July and August, after which Patil allegedly asked her to terminate the pregnancy and provided her with abortion pills. The woman stated that the abortion took place at her residence in August. "After this, Patil started avoiding me, and when I questioned him about the marriage, he would evade the topic and change the subject," the woman's statement reads.

According to the woman, when Patil continued avoiding her and refused to answer questions about their marriage, she went to his house and met his parents. To her shock, she discovered that his marriage had already been arranged with someone else. "When I confronted him about this, he blocked my number and stopped communicating with me, which led me to file a complaint against him," her statement reads.

Based on the woman's complaint, the police have registered a case against Patil under BNS Sections 69 and 89 (causing miscarriage without the woman's consent). "A case has been registered based on the new amendments to the law. The accused is currently absconding and a search has been launched to nab him," said Dattatray Khandagle, senior inspector, Bhandup
police station.