Granted Short Time Bail To Rape Accused To Marry Victim; ‘Not Simpliciter Case Of Rape, Parties Were Engaged’

The Uttarakhand High Court in the case Surjeet Kumar v. State of Uttarakhand observed and has passed an order for granting short term bail for a period of two weeks to a rape accused for the purposes of getting married to the victim.
The Single bench comprising of Justice Ravindra Maithani observed in the case that this being not a simpliciter case of rape but the parties were engaged and it was thereafter that the accused established physical relations with the victim, thus, before the arrangement went south.
The High Court stated that in the rape case simpliciter, the Court may not encourage marriage between the parties but this being not a case simpliciter of rape. As per the FIR lodged, first parties had engaged and the marriage was fixed. However, the applicant established physical relations and, subsequently, declined to marry the victim but now it is been stated that the applicant and the victim both are getting married. This court is of the view, while considering having facts and circumstances of the case that it is a case in which the applicant should be granted short term bail for a period of 2 weeks.
In the present case, Surjeet Kumar, the applicant was in a judicial custody in a case registered under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The present application was moved by him wherein seeking short term bail on the ground that he and the victim were getting married.
The court observed that as per the FIR, the rape victim and the applicant had befriended each other and their marriage had been fixed. It is being after that the physical relations were established by the accused with the victim, after which he declined to marry her.