HC quashes rape charges against 61-year-old American citizen of Indian origin

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court (HC) on Friday quashed criminal charges against a 61-year-old American citizen of Indian origin, who was accused of raping a 47-year-old married woman at his Thane flat after they met on a dating app. The woman had alleged that he engaged in a sexual relationship with her under the pretext of marriage. However, the court observed that since her marriage was still legally valid at the time, she could not have consented to establishing physical relations based on the belief that the man would marry her.

A division bench comprising Justices MS Sonak and Jitendra Jain delivered the judgment in response to a plea filed by the American passport holder seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against him in Thane. While quashing the First Information Report (FIR) and the chargesheet, the court remarked, “While the complainant’s marriage was subsisting, she could not have entertained the belief that she was giving her consent to sexual relations based upon a promise to marry.”

Case background

The woman, who was a resident of Thane and worked in Canada as a medical consultant, met the accused—an American citizen of Indian origin residing in Pune—on a dating app on November 16, 2022. At the time, divorce proceedings between the woman and her husband were pending, though they had reportedly been living separately since 2021.

According to the FIR filed on August 16, 2024, at Kapurbawadi police station in Thane, the woman alleged that the accused engaged in unprotected sexual relations with her against her consent. She claimed that on November 24, 2022, after watching a movie and having lunch together in Thane, the accused assured her they would get married before allegedly coercing her into a sexual relationship despite her resistance.

The woman further stated that after both returned to their respective countries—she to Canada and he to the United States—in January 2023, they continued to have sexual relations. However, disputes arose between them, and she alleged that the accused threatened her. As conflicts escalated and the accused refused to marry her, they ceased communication. She stated in her complaint, “I was hoping that one day or the other he would marry me, and in that hope, I did not complain against him till date.”

Court’s observations

In its ruling, the court held that the allegations in the FIR and complaint, even if accepted at face value, did not constitute an offence. “We find it challenging to maintain that the allegations in the impugned FIR or the complaint, even if taken at face value and accepted in their entirety, constitute an offence or establish a case against the petitioner,” the bench observed.

With these remarks, the court quashed the FIR and the chargesheet against the accused, effectively dismissing the criminal proceedings against him.