'Shameful': Bombay High Court's Nagpur bench upholds man's conviction for raping mother-in-law

Mumbai: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has upheld the conviction of a man for raping his mother-in-law, noting that it was a shameful act and the victim was like a mother to him.

A single bench of Justice G A Sanap in its judgment on Tuesday noted the victim was of the same age as the convict's mother and he had "defiled her womanhood".

The woman would have never imagined that her son-in-law would commit such a deplorable act, and she would carry this stigma all through her life, the court said.

"It is to be noted that the appellant (convict), who is the son-in-law of the prosecutrix (complainant victim), has committed this shameful act with his mother-in-law, who is the age of his own mother. The appellant defiled the womanhood of the prosecutrix," it said.

"The appellant took advantage of his relations with the prosecutrix. The prosecutrix would not have imagined in the wildest of dreams that her son-in-law would commit such a deplorable act with her," the court said.

The bench, while upholding the conviction, said the evidence submitted by the prosecution was sufficient to prove the rape case and the sentence imposed on the convict was absolutely proportionate to the gravity of the crime.

The convict had challenged the March 2022 judgment of a sessions court convicting and sentencing him to 14 years in jail for the rape of his 55-year-old mother-in-law in December 2018.

The complainant had alleged that her son-in-law and daughter were separated and her two grandchildren used to live with their father.

On the day of the alleged incident, the accused visited the victim, quarrelled with her and demanded that she take steps to reunite her daughter with him.

On the accused's compulsion, the victim went with him to his house. On the way, the accused consumed liquor and allegedly raped the woman three times.

The woman informed her daughter about the alleged incident and then lodged a police complaint.

The man in his appeal claimed it was a consensual sexual relationship and he was implicated in a false rape case.

The high court, however, refused to accept this contention and said the victim at the time of the incident was 55 years old and would not invite such a stigma on her character by levelling false allegations.

"Reporting of such a matter to the police invites stigmatic consequences. If it was a consensual act, then she would not have at all reported the incident to the police. If it was a consensual act, then she would not have even disclosed the same to her daughter," the HC said.