Women
are usually the victims of rape but can a woman be booked in a rape case? The
Supreme Court has agreed to examine this question after a woman petitioned it
for anticipatory bail in a rape case also involving her son.
The
apex court has asked the Punjab government to respond to the plea filed by a
61-year-old woman who has been implicated in the case filed by her
daughter-in-law.
While
agreeing to examine the issue, a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay
Karol granted the woman protection from arrest and directed her to cooperate
with the investigation.
"Issue
notice, returnable in four weeks. In the meantime, the petitioner is protected
from arrest. But she is expected to cooperate with the investigation of the
crime," the bench said.
At
the outset, advocate Rishi Malhotra, who appeared for the woman, argued that
all other penal sections in the FIR are bailable barring the charge under
Section 376(2)(n) IPC (repeated rape). Conviction under the section entails
imprisonment of not less than 10 years and may extend to sentence for life.
Referring
to an apex court judgement, Malhotra submitted a woman cannot be charged with
rape.
According
to the case, the complainant was initially in a long-distance relationship with
the US-based elder son of the woman, a widow, but they had never met in person.
The
FIR states that the complainant started living with the widow after entering
into wedlock with her son at a virtual marriage ceremony.
Later,
the younger son of the widow visited them from Portugal. The widow has claimed
that after the arrival of her younger son the complainant and her family
pressured her to end the informal marriage with her elder son. When the younger
son was about to leave for Portugal, the complainant insisted that he take her
along but he left alone.
As
tension mounted between the two families, a compromise was arrived at and the
widow gave the complainant Rs 11 lakh for ending the marriage with her elder
son.
The complainant then approached the local police and
lodged an FIR against the widow and her younger son, accusing them of rape and
other charges.