Pre-arrest bail granted due to lack of evidence connecting the applicant to claimed offenses and previous consensual relationship.

ORDER

This application is filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita , 2023 (for short, BNSS ), seeking pre-

arrest bail.

2. The applicant is the sole accused in Crime No.1335/2025 of Tirur Police Station, Malappuram District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 127 (2), 64(1), 64(2)(m) and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , 2023.

3. The victim and the applicant are relatives. The prosecution case, in short, is that that the victim got married to another person on 25-5-2025. Before her marriage, the victim had been in a relation with the applicant who was a photographer. On one day in 2024, the applicant had picked the victim from her college, taken her to a mall in Tirur on the pretext of talking with her, took the victim to a dressing room in the mall, and committed rape by promising to marry her. The applicant had taken photographs of the victim at such time and thereby committed the offences.

4. I have heard Sri.Nirmal V.Nair, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri. K.A.Noushad, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

5. The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the above crime. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to bail. The learned Senior Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as part of the applicant's intentional criminal acts, and if he is released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.

6. The applicant is aged 27 years and the victim is aged

19 years. A reading of the FIS would show that in the year 2024, they were in love and the relationship turned to be a physical relationship. According to the victim, she was sexually assaulted by the applicant twice in a dressing room at a mall after giving promise of marriage. The alleged first incident took place before the marriage of the victim in the year 2024 and the second incident took place after her marriage in June, 2025. Though the victim says that it was a forceful sexual act, the entire story put forward by the victim coupled with the fact that both the incidents occurred in a dressing room in a mall, it appears that they were consensual in nature. It is pertinent to note that the first incident took place prior to the marriage of the victim and she did not lodge any complaint. On the other hand, ever after the marriage of the victim with another person, she continued her relationship with the applicant and again, had physical relationship with him. In the FIS, it is stated that the husband of the victim came to know about their relationship and got separated from her. Then, the brother of the victim approached the applicant to marry her. But the applicant was not willing. It was thereafter, the complaint pertaining to the present crime was preferred by the victim. Considering the allegations made against the applicant, his custodial interrogation seems unnecessary. For these reasons, I find this to be an appropriate case to grant pre-arrest bail to the applicant.

In the result, the application is allowed on the following conditions:-

(i) The applicant shall be released on bail in the event of his arrest on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the arresting officer/investigating officer, as the case may be.

(ii) The applicant shall fully cooperate with the investigation, including subjecting himself to the deemed police custody for discovery, if any, as and when demanded.

(iii) The applicant shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a