Delhi HC deems blaming older women for marriage issues misogynistic

The Delhi High Court has ruled that it is "patriarchal" and "misogynistic" to suggest that a woman should predict marriage issues if she is older than her partner. This ruling came during a case involving a man accused of raping a woman after promising to marry her. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma stated that this reasoning was legally weak and unfair. The judge emphasized that a woman's choice to engage in a relationship based on a man's promises should not be viewed as mere obsession if he later broke those promises. The court dismissed the man's request to drop the case, citing significant evidence of the allegations. The accusations suggest he pressured the woman into unwanted sexual relations from 2018 to 2021 by claiming they would marry. The woman described how they became friends as colleagues, and he assured her a future together. She claimed he asked her to turn down other marriage proposals and borrowed money from her, which he never repaid. Eventually, he stopped communicating with her, leading her to file a police complaint in May 2021. The man's lawyer argued that the relationship was consensual and that the woman knew about the potential challenges, such as financial issues and family objections, due to their age difference. However, the court did not find these arguments sufficient to quash the complaint.