A charge of cheating and rape against a man by his former girlfriend has prompted the Bombay High Court to pronounce that not every breach of promise to marry can be equated with rape. Urban society in India no longer seriously condemns premarital sex as the Court maintained. What the High Court did not say is that it is not taken as a serious offence even in rural India. The Court has also made it clear that it is aware of the difficulties of proving rape when a relationship goes on the rocks. No uniform rule can be laid down on this issue. The Supreme Court had also earlier questioned the applicability of the charge of rape whenever a prolonged relationship terminated. The higher judiciary is thus moving with changing social mores. Live-in relationships have more or less received legal status. Hence, premarital sex should no longer be considered shocking.
Here a question arises: is it necessary for Indians to look for the sanction of authority in cases where common sense should serve the purpose? Rape is of course a highly sensitive issue. Lawyers and legislators should apply their minds to defining the crime with all thoroughness so that there is no waste of time over it. The Court is right in ruling that every such case should be judged separately. For instance, the desire for revenge should not be allowed to cloud the issue and lead to waste of time. Indians are prone to think that the higher judiciary as well as political and religious leaders can pronounce on every conceivable issue. That is overdoing things. It is not necessary for the judiciary to decide on every minor detail concerning relationships which have gone wrong. Litigation on such issues only increases the backlog at Courts. All this however does not mean that the appalling crime of rape should be made light of. The Courts should take prompt decisions and enforcement of such decision brooks no delay.
