Doctor accused of rape gives proof of live-in relationship

The doctor argued that it was a live-in relationship and they both stayed as husband and wife.

The sessions court granted pre-arrest bail to a doctor booked in a rape case after he produced an agreement signed by him and the complainant stating that they were in a live-in relationship since 2015.

As per the prosecution’s case, the doctor, who is married, was a medical officer in a city-based government hospital where the complainant also worked.

The woman claimed that in September 2015, she met the doctor and they got into a relationship. The woman claimed that “under misconception of marriage, the doctor repeatedly kept physical relations with her”. In September this year, she lodged a complaint with the Azad Maidan police station.

The police called the doctor for inquiry. The doctor, currently posted in Alibaug, moved the sessions court for a pre-arrest bail. His lawyer argued that it was a live-in relationship and they both stayed as husband and wife. The defence produced a memorandum of understanding signed by both in front of two witnesses.

The agreement as reproduced in the court order reads: “both the parties thereto are fully aware that one party being a lawful married person cannot enter into another lawful and valid marriage with the other party and therefore, both of them amicably decided to enter a live-in relationship and fulfil their duties and obligations towards each other like a married couple.”