Mumbai News: 50-Year-Old Chembur Doctor Gets Anticipatory Bail In 'Promise To Marry' Case After Court Rules Married Woman Not Legally Available For Marriage

Mumbai: A man cannot be booked for rape for having a sexual relationship with a married woman on the promise of marriage, as the woman could not be legally available for marriage, a court has held granting anticipatory bail to a 50-year-old doctor from Chembur.

Additional Sessions Judge Dr Gauri Kawdikar observed, “The complainant herself is a married woman, not legally available for marriage … when the complainant is not legally available for marriage, there is no question of a promise to marry by the applicant.”

According to the FIR filed on April 6, the 38‑year‑old woman, married since 2009, met the doctor while seeking treatment for her husband. She said her husband disappeared in July 2020, after which she confided in the doctor, who offered help and, in November 2020, allegedly asked her to leave her husband and marry him.

She further alleged that in March 2021, the doctor stayed at her home for two months while facing arrest in another case and insisted on sexual relations, assuring her he would marry her, but began avoiding her in November 2024, leading her to lodge the complaint.

“Taking into consideration long period of sexual relations between the parties, legal non-availability of the complainant for marriage, delay in lodging FIR, age of the complainant, prima-facie consensual sexual relationship between the complainant and the applicant; it is held that custodial interrogation of the application is not required,” the court said while granting anticipatory bail to the doctor.