Western ideas influence youth to get into live-ins; FIRs filed after relations fail: Allahabad HC

Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court has overturned the life sentence of a man convicted of rape, highlighting a rising trend among youth to enter live-in relationships under Western influence.

The bench, comprising Justice Siddharth and Justice Prashant Mishra-I, noted that since the laws are in favour of women, men get convicted relying upon the laws which were made when the concept of live-in was nowhere in existence.

The appellant had been sentenced in March 2024 by a Special Judge, Exclusive Court (POCSO Act), Maharajganj. The prosecution had alleged that he enticed the woman on the pretext of marriage, took her to Bengaluru, and established a physical relationship with her.

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The High Court, however, found that the victim was not a minor. The bench also observed discrepancies in the victim’s age, stating that “in the FIR, the mother had stated her age as 18-1/2 years, but it appeared to the court that later, ‘on legal advice’, she stated her age as 17 years in her court statement.”

The Court highlighted the victim’s conduct, noting that she “admitted in her testimony that she left her house willingly and travelled with the appellant by public transport to Gorakhpur and then to Bengaluru.” 

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She lived with the accused in a locality full of other houses in Bengaluru for six months and “had a consenting physical relationship with him,” contacting her family only after he dropped her back at Shikarpur Crossing.

The court, therefore, allowed the accused’s appeal, setting aside all convictions and sentences imposed by the trial court.

(With inputs from LiveLaw)