The promise of marriage cannot be revoked on the pretext of “astrological incompatibility” in the horoscope, observing this, the High Court refused to acquit a person of rape and fraud charges. According to the victim's complaint, Borivali police had registered a case of rape and cheating against Avishek Mitra. Mitra filed a petition in the High Court seeking acquittal from the rape and cheating case filed against him. Mitra's lawyer Raja Thakare told the court that the relationship between the accused and the complainant could not go ahead due to “astrological incompatibility”.
Dismissing his application, Justice SK Shinde observed, “It is apparent that the applicant in the guise of astrological incompatibility of the horoscopes, avoided the promise… Thus, I am convinced that the material on record suggests, it is a case of false promise to marry which apparently vitiates the complainant’s consent. There is ample evidence to suggest that the accused did not intend to marry the victim from the start. The accused is refusing to marry the woman on the pretext of “astrological incompatibility”, the court observed.
At first glance, the woman lodged a complaint with the police station and the accused promised to marry her to avoid action, the court said. According to the complaint lodged by the woman, the accused and she have known each other since 2012.
They were working together in a five star hotel. The accused had sexual relations with her several times by giving false promise of marriage. So she got pregnant. She informed the accused about this. However, he forced her to have an abortion, saying that we were still young and did not want to get married.The accused had been avoiding the woman since December 2012. She had lodged a complaint with the police station about the incident.
In January 2013, the accused offered to marry her. So the woman also withdrew the police complaint. After withdrawing the complaint, the accused refused the marriage citing “astrological incompatibility” . Prosecutors said the woman then lodged a complaint with the police station. The court dismissed Mitra's argument.