The Allahabad High Court has overturned a life sentence awarded to a man in a kidnapping and sexual assault case, finding that the woman involved was an adult who willingly entered a live-in relationship with him. The court noted that when such relationships break down, false cases often follow, influenced by laws that heavily favour women and fail to account for changing social norms.
A division bench of Justices Siddharth and Prashant Kumar Mishra allowed the appeal filed by Chandresh, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower court under charges including rape, kidnapping, and offences under the POCSO and SC/ST Acts.
The court criticised the trial court’s failure to properly examine evidence, particularly an ossification test that placed the woman’s age at around 20 years. Despite this, the trial court proceeded on the assumption that she was a minor.
The bench expressed concern over a growing trend in which live-in relationships—especially when they end badly—lead to FIRs alleging rape. “Since the law is primarily in favour of women and was framed at a time when live-in relationships were unheard of, many such cases result in convictions that may not stand legal scrutiny today,” the judges observed.
According to the prosecution, Chandresh allegedly lured away a minor girl under the pretext of marriage and took her to Bengaluru, where he established a physical relationship with her. He was convicted under:
- IPC Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (abduction), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 376 (rape)
- Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act
- Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act
However, the High Court noted that the woman travelled with the accused through public transport to Gorakhpur and then to Bengaluru, where they lived together for six months without her ever raising an alarm. “She resided in a regular neighbourhood, and her conduct did not reflect coercion or restraint,” the bench said.
The woman only contacted her family once Chandresh voluntarily dropped her back near her home in Uttar Pradesh.
The FIR originally mentioned the woman’s age as 18-and-a-half, but during trial, her mother claimed she was 17—an inconsistency the court found telling. The bench remarked that this change “appears to have been made on legal advice” in an attempt to bring the case under POCSO.
The High Court found the conviction under rape laws and the POCSO Act unsustainable since the relationship was consensual, and the woman was a legal adult. It also set aside charges under the SC/ST Act, stating that no evidence had been presented to justify them.
In its January 8 judgment, the High Court concluded that the trial court’s ruling was flawed and failed to account for material evidence. The life sentence was quashed, and the appeal was allowed, resulting in Chandresh’s acquittal.
