Kochi: Kerala High Court on Thursday said that all the rapes must be considered as gender neutral offences and not just in the female victim-male accused scenario. Justice Muhamed Mustaqe made the remarks in the court orally during a divorce hearing dispute over the custody of a child.
The topic came up when the woman claimed her ex-husband was also accused of rape once, suggesting he was not fit to take care of the child. On which, the lawyer representing the man said he was currently out on bail and those rape charges were never substantiated.
He was accused of having sex with a woman on the false pretext of marriage.
“Section 375 is not a gender-neutral provision. If a woman tricks a man under false promise of marriage, she can’t be prosecuted. But a man can be prosecuted for the same offence. What kind of law is this? It should be gender-neutral,” Mustaque reportedly said during the hearing.
According to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, a man is guilty of raping a woman if he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married.
It is commonly reported as “rape on the pretext of marriage”.
Last month, Justice Mustaque had made a similar observation, saying only if a woman’s bodily autonomy is violated, will sex on the promise to marry amount to rape, Bar and Bench reported.
