Just in this morning after waking up, I headed directly towards our hall to pick up my favorite Hindu newspaper. Though I am lazy, I spend some time in getting myself acquainted with the world. After reading regular politics and movies, I couldn’t take my eyes off one particular news item on the last page of main edition. You know what it is? - “Court: Having sex when there is intention to marry is not rape”. That court was Supreme Court of India and I could be spotted one among many who hailed this judgement without second thought.
Let me put forth some points from that judgement.
1. If a girl engages in sexual intercourse with her bf on a promise to get married and later finds him reneging on his promise doesn’t entitle her to file a rape case against him.
2. A girl can be matured enough to foresee the consequences of not getting married by any chance and act cautiously.
3. A girl having consensual sex with her bf might be outcome of her love for him or uncontrollability of their emotions but not necessarily mean to get married.
4. A guy can’t fulfill his promise under certain circumstances though he is completely willing to marry her.
This may completely look misogynistic but that can be dismissed by one point in judgement-
“An accused can be convicted for rape only if the court reaches a conclusion that the intention of the accused was mala fide, and that he had clandestine motives.”
The above statement looks funny to me as it can never be proved that a guy had sex with an intention of satisfying his lust. One always maintains that he really loves her and can’t marry because of unforeseen reasons. Many of my friends must have known this ;-)
Keeping the judgement apart for a while, one must know that there are no real girls who go to court for getting exploited when in relationship. In fact, girls (not all) have become so open-minded that they took premarital sex as simple as eating pizza and playing tennis as was told in a Hollywood movie. Though having sex before marriage looked as simple as I told, it creates unnecessary problems to both parties. I, being confused with this aspect, will never oppose or support premarital sex.
Coming back to our SC judgement, there are three ways of taking this landmark judgement.
1. One group takes it as a restraint: Girls can have sex with their partners before marriage but should keep mum once they come to know that their marriage was a mirage.
2. Another group takes it as an advisory: Girls should refrain from premarital sex and do not fall prey to cheating and misguidance.
3. There is always a third group which takes it as an offer: Indian youth are allowed to have premarital sex extensively until both girl and boy are happy and can opt out of marriage if they have issues.
Being a great admirer of Supreme Court, I believe its decision doesn’t intend to develop view#1 or view#3 among Indian youth but to throw view#2 as it strives for women safety with dignity.
