S*x engaged on a false promise of marriage is a crime, the Supreme Court in India has ruled.

In their judgment, a Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and M.R. Shah concluded that a woman was taken advantage of by virtue of the marriage promise, and that that in itself constitutes a crime.

They ruled on the case of the ummamed woman by a government doctor in Chhattisgarh in a 2013 incident.

The man had engaged in a physical relationship with her at his home on the promise of marrying her. At the time of the crime, he was already engaged to marry another woman. He later broke his promise to the victim.

They said that it was clear from the evidence that the man’s intention was to cheat the victim. She would not have consented to the sexual act had he not promised her marriage. “It was a clear case of cheating and deception,” the Supreme Court held.
The court said such incidents were on the rise in modern society.

“Rape is the most morally and physically reprehensible crime in a society, an assault on the body, mind and privacy of the victim. While a murderer destroys the physical frame of the victim, a rapist degrades and defiles the soul of a helpless female. Rape reduces a woman to an animal, as it shakes the very core of her life,” Justice Shah wrote in the judgment.
The court said rape is the “most hated crime”. “It tantamounts to a serious blow to the supreme honour of a woman, and offends both her esteem and dignity,” the judgment said. – Source: The Hindu