'Abuse Of Process': Rajasthan High Court Quashes FIR Alleging Husband Used Drugs, Black Magic To Solemnise Marriage

The Rajasthan High Court recently quashed an FIR lodged by a woman against her husband alleging that he had used drugs, medicines and black magic to induce her into marrying him and had thereafter raped her, holding that the criminal proceedings amounted to an abuse of the process of law.The bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand highlighted that the FIR was lodged 4 years after marriage, and 1 year after a daughter was born out of the wedlock, and that too based on vague allegations.Further, it was highlighted that since the main allegation was of rape, the offence was not made out against the petitioner in light of the Exception 2 to Section 375, IPC, that carved out marital rape from the definition of the rape. For context, the respondent was a divorced woman, who had performed a second inter-religious marriage with the petitioner, under the Special Marriage Act. Since they perceived threat to their life and liberty, after marriage, a petition was also filed seeking protection. Further, a daughter was also born out of the wedlock. Subsequently, after nearly 4 years of the marriage, FIR was lodged by the respondent against the petitioner stating that she was misled into marrying him under the influence of drugs, medicines and black magic. These allegations were accompanied with the accusation of rape. The present petition was filed by the husband-petitioner to quash the proceedings on the ground of the allegations being a concocted story. It was also submitted that since he was the legally wedded husband of the respondent, no offence of rape was made out. On the contrary, the State argued that black magic was used by the petitioner to get the first marriage of the respondent dissolved, and then subsequently marrying her against her wish. It was argued that the police had found prima facie case against the petitioner, and charges were framed against him by the Sessions Court, under IPC and the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch Hunting Act, 2015. After hearing the contentions, the Court took into account the facts and observed, “…the petitioner is legally wedded husband of the victim. The offence punishable under Section 376 is not made out, as he is covered under the Exception 2, appended to Section 375 IPC. So far as the rest of the offences are concerned, the same are also not made out prima facie against the petitioner.”“…it appears that subsequently the prosecutrix has changed her mind and lodged the instant FIR after a lapse of around three years since her marriage and after one year of birth of the girl child, wherein multiple allegations including allegation of rape have been levelled against the petitioner.”In this background, it was held that the FIR was an abuse of the process of law, and hence, the proceedings were quashed against the petitioner. Title: R v State of Rajasthan & Anr. Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Raj) 319Click Here To Read/Download Order

'Abuse Of Process': Rajasthan High Court Quashes FIR Alleging Husband Used Drugs, Black Magic To Solemnise Marriage

Nupur Agrawal

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Nupur Agrawal

'Abuse Of Process': Rajasthan High Court Quashes FIR Alleging Husband Used Drugs, Black Magic To Solemnise Marriage

Nupur Agrawal

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Nupur Agrawal

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