Man arrested for raping bar singer refused bail

Mumbai: A sessions court has refused to grant bail to a man arrested for allegedly having sexual intercourse with a bar singer without her consent, and circulating her nude pictures and photographs.

According to the FIR, the victim used to have physical relations with the accused Lalchand Tiwari for monetary consideration of Rs 10,000. However, on February 24, she did not give her consent but the accused gave her spiked juice and she fell unconscious. When she regained consciousness, she found herself lying naked next to the accused and realised he had raped her. The complaint was lodged when a few people known to the victim, including her aunt, received objectionable photos and videos of her.

Tiwari’s lawyer argued that the FIR itself revealed consensual relations between them and that consideration was paid by the accused for sexual favours.

Rejecting the accused’s bail plea, the judge observed, “Consent cannot be presumed every time and the victim certainly had the right to refuse to allow sexual relations and it is apparent from the FIR that the victim had conveyed her ‘no’ to the accused on this particular occasion.”