The Supreme Court has agreed to examine the question of whether a woman can be charged in a rape case, following a petition by a woman seeking anticipatory bail in a rape case involving her son. The court has asked the Punjab government to respond to the plea filed by the 61-year-old woman, who has been implicated in the case 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. The bench stated, “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.”
Advocate Rishi Malhotra, representing the woman, argued that all other penal sections in the FIR are bailable except for the charge under Section 376(2)(n) IPC (repeated rape). He cited a Supreme Court judgment stating that a woman cannot be charged with rape.
According to the case, the complainant was in a long-distance relationship with the woman’s elder son, who is based in the US, but they had never met in person. The woman’s younger son visited them from Portugal, and it is claimed that tension arose between the two families. A compromise was reached, and the widow gave the complainant Rs 11 lakh to end the marriage with her elder son. Subsequently, the complainant filed an FIR accusing the widow and her younger son of rape and other charges.
It is important to note that this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
