Agartala: The Tripura high court has acquitted a man, who was convicted and sentenced to a 10-year imprisonment in a rape case, holding that consensual relationship between a married couple does not qualify as rape under Section 375 of the IPC.A division bench of Justice T Amarnath Goud and Justice S Datta Purkayastha on Saturday set aside the conviction awarded to Sukanta Murasing by a Belonia court in Jan 2025.The case originated after an FIR was filed in Oct 2022, with the complainant alleging sexual assault in 2017. The couple later married in Jan 2018 and signed a notarised declaration. However, the complainant alleged the accused refused to acknowledge the marriage in front of local community leaders.The high court noted that the complainant admitted to a long-term romantic relationship with the accused and confirmed their marriage was still valid. It also observed she lived with Murasing as his wife after the alleged incident in 2017, with no evidence of resistance or immediate complaint, suggesting the relationship was consensual.
