Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday ruled that ending a relationship or marrying someone else does not automatically turn a past consensual sexual relationship into a case of rape.

Justice G Girish noted that if a man marries another person in search of “greener pastures,” it does not mean that a previous consensual relationship with another woman constitutes rape under the law.

The court was hearing a petition by a man accused under Sections 376 (rape), 493 (cohabitation by deceit), and 496 (fraudulent marriage ceremony) of the Indian Penal Code. The allegations claimed he had a long-term relationship with a woman, promising marriage, but later married someone else.

According to the prosecution, the relationship began in 2009 while the complainant was married with two children. Aft

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