NORTH GOA: The North Goa Fast Track Special Court has acquitted a 24-year-old man from West Bengal in a rape case, observing that a relationship turning sour due to family opposition cannot, by itself, establish sexual exploitation on the false promise of marriage.
The accused, Mainul Hasan Chowdhury, a resident of Barddhaman, was given the benefit of doubt after the court found insufficient evidence to establish that he had entered into the relationship with a dishonest intention to deceive the woman.
Chowdhury was arrested by Anjuna Police in March 2024 following a complaint by a woman who had previously worked with him. The prosecution alleged that he had established physical relations with her on multiple occasions in December 2023 by promising to marry her.
The two had initially met during a video interview for a bartender’s vacancy at a restaurant in Anjuna, where Chowdhury was employed as a manager. Their professional association later developed into an intimate relationship after the woman arrived in Goa on December 2, 2023.
The matter took a turn after the woman discovered she was pregnant later that month. Following the disclosure to their employer, Chowdhury reportedly lost his job and accommodation and subsequently left Goa.
The woman filed an FIR on January 6, 2024, leading to the criminal proceedings.
During the trial, a significant part of the prosecution’s case came under scrutiny during the complainant’s cross-examination. She acknowledged that the physical relationship was consensual, stated that no force had been used and confirmed that Chowdhury had proposed marriage, which she had accepted after making her own inquiries.
The court also considered evidence that the proposed marriage encountered resistance from both families due to their different religious backgrounds.
Referring to judicial precedents, the court distinguished between a false promise of marriage made without any genuine intention to fulfil it and a genuine relationship in which the marriage proposal subsequently fails.
The court observed that the prosecution must establish that the accused never intended to marry and had used the assurance specifically to obtain sexual consent. The mere failure of a relationship or an unfulfilled marriage proposal does not automatically establish criminal liability.
Finding no convincing evidence of dishonest intention from the beginning of the relationship, the court held that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
Chowdhury was accordingly acquitted, with the court extending the benefit of doubt.
