MOHAMMED HAREES Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners are the accused in Crime No.159 of 2022 of Alappuzha North Police Station registered for the offences under Sec. 376(2)(n), 354, 420 and 506 r/w sec. 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. They seek pre-arrest bail under sec. 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

(2.) Petitioners are husband and wife. Both of them are facing indictment for the offences which include rape of a 24-year-old survivor.

(3.) The prosecution alleges that during the period from 17/3/2021 to 31/12/2021, the first petitioner, after impressing the survivor that he is a divorcee and promising to marry her, committed rape at a resort in Alappuzha on 17/3/2021 and continued to exploit her sexually. The prosecution alleges that from June 2021 onwards, after offering partnership in the business of a tourist resort by the name of 'Caffe Mandala ', first petitioner induced her to transfer an amount of Rs.18,00,000.00 apart from gold worth Rs.2,00,000.00, and thus committed criminal breach of trust also. The prosecution further alleges that, subsequently, on 2/1/2022, on coming to know about the involvement of the first accused in a criminal case, the defacto complaint became aware about the subsisting marriage of the petitioners and also that the amount given by the defacto complainant was transferred to the account of the petitioners and on questioning the same with the second petitioner, she threatened her, stating that the photographs in the possession of the first petitioner will be misused and that the petitioners had jointly acted to trap the defacto complainant and thereby the petitioners made an unlawful gain of Rs.20,00,000.00 and unlawful loss to the defacto complainant and thus committed the offences alleged.