Woman With 3 Husbands Accuses Live-In Partner Of Rape; Court Acquits Man

A man accused of rape has been acquitted after a court in India found out that the woman who complained against him was already married to three other people.

The 30-year-old unidentified woman was married three times and had not legally separated from any of them. She began having a relationship with a fourth person in 2016, who was also married, the Times of India reported. A court in the western Indian state of Gujarat found that the woman married the third person while she was dating the defendant.

The woman and her boyfriend began living together in 2017. However, their relationship ended when the man's wife and in-laws came to know about the affair. The woman then consumed insecticide in an attempt to end her life and was hospitalized.

She lodged a complaint against her lover in 2018 accusing that he raped her on a false promise of marriage. The court found that the woman had not divorced any of her husbands, though she was involved in legal proceedings with two of them. She was also aware of her lover's marital status, prosecutors said.

The local court evaluated the history of the live-in relationship between the woman and her ex-partner and eventually acquitted him of rape charges.

"Having a live-in relationship with the accused despite the knowledge that he was a married man shows that the victim was fully aware of the moral quality of the act," the court said in its order, adding that the woman was "a willing and consenting partner."

Additional sessions judge P K T Ram said there were inconsistencies in the woman's testimony and her complaint. She earlier told police that she had sexual intercourse with the man after he promised to marry her. Her court testimony claimed the entire relationship was forced and based on false promises, local news outlet I am Gujarat reported.

"This court is of the opinion that the sexual intercourse between the couple which was with the consent of the victim cannot be said to be a 'rape,'" the judge said while acquitting the man of rape charges. "The victim was 30 years of age and had adequate intelligence and maturity to understand the significance and morality associated with the act she was consenting to."