Shyne v. State of Kerala
In the High Court of Kerala
B.A. 8349/2017
Before Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan
Decided on December 06, 2017

Relevancy of the case: Bail application in a case involving allegations of rape, sexual assault, and circulation of photos

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66E)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 294, 323, 354, 376)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 439)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• According to the prosecution, on December 30, 2015, at about 11 AM, the petitioner trespassed into the residential home of the complainant and raped her.
• Later he threatened that he would commit suicide if she didn’t marry him and hence their marriage was solemnized on September 12, 2016 at Pallimon Devi Temple.
• When they were living together as husband and wife, he sold her gold ornaments and used the proceeds from these ornaments, (amounting to Rs. 3,75,000/-) to go abroad.
• After returning, he started residing with the complainant at Kollam and whilst living together, he physically and sexually assaulted her and circulated certain photographs online.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel argued that the complainant is his wife and hence the dispute is matrimonial. The allegation of rape and circulation of photos is incorrect. It was also argued that Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000 have been deleted.
• The respondent’s counsel argued that even though the marriage was solemnized in a temple, it is questionable whether it is valid or not.

Opinion of the Bench

• The submissions were read very carefully and it was decided that even though the allegations were very serious, the investigation is still ongoing and further detention of the petitioner does not appear to be necessary.

Final Decision

• Application allowed.
• Bail granted subject to certain conditions.

This case summary has been prepared by Loreal Sahay, an undergraduate student at the University School of Law and Legal Studies, GGSIPU, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2021.