If you marry a woman without divorcing first wife, it is not just bigamy, but also rape, Bombay HC rules

The Bombay High Court has declined to quash a First Information Report (FIR) against a man who entered into a second marriage while his first marriage was still in force.

In its ruling, the court stated that this action not only constitutes bigamy but also falls under the offense of rape.

Justices Nitin Sambre and Rajesh Patil, in their decision on August 24, rejected a petition filed by the man who had been charged by the Pune police under Indian Penal Code sections 376 (rape) and 494 (bigamy).

According to the FIR, the man began visiting a woman, both of whom were academics, after her husband passed away in February 2006, ostensibly to provide moral support. He claimed to have divorced his first wife due to marital discord and subsequently led the woman to believe that he was a divorcee.

They got married in June 2014 and lived together until January 31, 2016, when he abandoned her and returned to his first wife.

Upon investigation, it became apparent that the man had misrepresented himself as divorced and had deceived the woman into marriage and a physical relationship based on false promises.

The man’s legal representative argued that the woman was aware that divorce proceedings initiated against his first wife in 2010 had been swiftly withdrawn.

The judges observed that the man had admitted to entering into a second marriage while his first marriage was still valid, while simultaneously asserting that their relationship was consensual. Furthermore, engaging in a physical relationship with the complainant while his first marriage was still in effect could be considered to meet the criteria for section 376 (rape), the judges concluded.