Woman In Semi-Conscious State Can't Give Consent For Sex: Kerala HC Rejects Anticipatory Bail In Rape Case

The accused guy sought relief from Kerala High Court after a special court handling SC/ST Act charges previously rejected his request for anticipatory bail.

The prosecution said that the accused had committed rape after giving some liquid to the plaintiff, rendering her semi-conscious.

Source : File Photo

The Kerala High Court stated that a woman in a semi-conscious state cannot give consent for sex on Wednesday. The HC made the statement while rejecting a plea for anticipatory bail moved by a man who was accused of rape by a woman. Earlier, a woman from the Scheduled Caste community said that she was raped after she was given cake and a bottle of alcohol laced with drugs, reported IANS. 

The accused guy sought relief from Kerala High Court after a special court handling SC/ST Act cases previously rejected his request for anticipatory bail.

The Court observed, “In this case, the specific case of the defacto complainant is that she was subjected to rape after giving her a cake and a bottle of water by the accused and was in a semi-conscious state. In such a state, it cannot be held that the overt act alleged by the defacto complainant is one (that) arose out of consent.” 

Finding that the allegations against the accused were made out prima facie, the court said, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act prohibition on pre-arrest bail would apply.

“Therefore, the prosecution allegations are well made out prima facie and as such anticipatory bail cannot be granted in view of the specific bar under Section 18 and 18A of the SC/ST Act,” the court said, as per IANS.

Before the High Court, the appellant claimed that he and the complainant were in a relationship and that when things between them got strained, she then filed a false rape charge.

However, the prosecution claimed that the accused had committed rape after giving some liquid to the plaintiff, rendering her semi-conscious.

After going through all, the Court concluded that a prima facie case had been made out against the appellant and rejected his plea for anticipatory bail.