Thane court rejects bail plea of doctor in rape case

Thane, Jun 18 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has rejected the bail application of a 32-year-old doctor arrested for allegedly raping a woman after promising to marry her.

Tampering of evidence is possible in case of grant of bail during pendency of the investigation, it said.

“Hence, to my mind, looking at the stage of the investigation, seriousness of the offence and facts of the case, no case for grant of bail is made out,” Additional Sessions Judge Premal S Vithalani said in the order on June 11, a copy of which was made available on Tuesday.

“Every bail application needs to be decided by considering facts and circumstances of the particular case. There cannot be a straitjacket formula while granting or rejecting bail applications,” he said.

As per the prosecution, the doctor and the 27-year-old woman became friends in 2017 and he proposed marriage in 2020.

She approached police in April 2024, following which an FIR was registered against him for rape and criminal intimidation.

On April 24, the court rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of the doctor and he was arrested on May 7.

The prosecution opposed the doctor’s bail plea, alleging he exploited the informant under the false promise of marriage and used threats to coerce her into sexual relations.

The court reviewed the evidence, including mobile phone records and an audio recording submitted by the informant’s counsel.

“Looking at the facts of the case, it is to be seen whether the accused deserves a grant of bail. There is no doubt that there was consent of the informant for physical relations. Many photographs showing intimacy have been placed on record by the advocate for the accused,” the court said.

However, it is alleged that due to false promise of marriage by the accused and threats given by him to make the photographs and video of sexual activity viral, the informant had given consent, the court said, adding that “definitely, such consent cannot be said to be valid consent under law.”