Consensual: Kerala High Court grants relief to man accused of raping wife before their marriage

The Kerala High Court recently granted anticipatory bail to a man who was booked in a rape and harassment case after his estranged wife accused him of raping her four months before their marriage and torturing her for the return of some property thereafter. .Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas also granted anticipatory bail to the man's parents, who had been booked on allegations that they harassed their daughter-in-law after her marriage to their son. The Court noted that the allegations appear to have been raised due to marital discord and ongoing divorce proceedings. The Court warned against resorting to criminal proceedings just to get an advantage in a matrimonial dispute. "Circumstances indicate that the attempt is to convert a consensual relationship into rape. When attempts are made to compel the parties to yield to their demands in a matrimonial dispute, recourse to criminal proceedings would defeat the interest of justice especially if custodial interrogation is permitted. Hence, I am satisfied that this is a fit case where petitioners ought to be granted pre-arrest bail, however, subject to conditions," the June 26 ruling said, in this regard. .The complainant in this case (wife) had alleged that the accused man had coerced her into a sexual relationship in September 2016, four months prior to their marriage in January 2017.She claimed the incident led to a pregnancy.She also claimed that 20 cents of land owned by the husband's mother was subsequently transferred to her.However, after their marriage, the woman alleged that her husband and in-laws subjected her to mental and physical harassment to reclaim the transferred property. She further claimed that her husband continued to sexually harass her during the marriage and also seized her gold ornaments and educational certificates.The husband and his family members denied these allegations. .They contended that the case was a fallout of a marital dispute. The husband said that he had filed a divorce petition in May 2025, in which he had accused the wife of having an extramarital relationshipThe husband and his parents claimed the complainant's allegations were fabricated to pressurise them into settling the matrimonial dispute on her terms..The Court noted that the first accused and the complainant had lived as husband and wife for more than eight years before she filed a complaint. It further observed that the rape allegation was related to a time before the marriage and was raised only after the initiation of divorce proceedings.The Court concluded that this was not a case where the accused should be subjected to custodial interrogation. Therefore, it granted them anticipatory bail on certain conditions, including that they cooperate with the investigation. .The petitioners (accused husband and in-laws) were represented by advocates Basil Chandy Vavachan, Georgie Simon, Charutha Bhaiju, Chandhana Bhaiju, Basil Sajan, Fathim Navas, Kavya Rani Jayaprakash, Lekshmi Priya V, Muhammed Shuhaib AS, and Basil Scaria.Public Prosecutor Sreeja V appeared for the State..[Read Order]