New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that a breakup alone cannot turn past consensual sex into rape. It asked whether a man does not have the right to end a relationship.
Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan made these remarks while acquitting a man accused of rape. They said courts and society should stop the misuse of criminal law when two consenting adults have an emotional falling-out.
Consent And Regret Are Different
The Court said there is a difference between two situations. If someone was tricked into a sexual relationship through lies or false promises from the beginning, it may be rape. But if both adults consented during the relationship and one person later regrets it after the breakup, that regret cannot make the past relationship rape.
The judges said ending a relationship does not make earlier consensual sex a crime. Calling it a crime later can harm a person’s freedom and reputation, as reported by NDTV.
A Person Can End A Relationship
The Court said that if leaving a relationship could lead to a rape case, a person would be forced to stay in it out of fear.
“In fact, such an approach denudes the man of any agency entirely, as the mere factum of being in a consensual relationship at one point would bind him to it entirely for fear of being accused of rape at a subsequent point of time,” the bench noted, adding, “In such a scenario, can it be said that the man had no right to withdraw from the relationship? Can such a decision be termed as deceit or fraud? Clearly not.”
The judges said rape is a very serious crime. It should be used only in cases involving real sexual violence, force, or consent obtained through cheating—not simply because a relationship failed.
At the same time, the Court said many rape cases are still not reported because victims fear shame or harm to their family’s reputation.
“Therefore, in instances where the facts clearly point to sexual violence or assault, such genuine cases must be investigated thoroughly and prosecuted,” the judges stressed.
