The Allahabad High Court said in a recent judgement that a woman who was allegedly raped in 2024 had “invited trouble” for herself and was responsible for the crime committed against her.

Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh made the remarks on March 11 in his order granting bail to Nischal Chandak, the man accused of raping the woman. He had been arrested in the matter in December 2024.

“This court is of the view that even if the allegation of the victim is accepted as true, then it can also be concluded that she herself invited trouble and was also responsible for the same,” Singh said in the verdict.

As per her complaint filed with the Noida Police, the woman, who was a university student, said that she had gone to a bar in Delhi with three female friends in September 2024, Bar and Bench reported.

She met a few male acquaintances at the bar and Chandak was also part of this group, her complaint said. The woman was intoxicated and stayed at the bar till 3 am, it added.

Chandak kept asking her to come with him, the woman alleged in her complaint. She added that she finally agreed to go to his home to rest, according to Bar and Bench.

The woman claimed that Chandak kept touching her inappropriately on the way and instead of taking him to his home in Noida, he took her to his relative’s flat in Gurgaon and raped her.

A first information report was registered at a police station in Noida based on the complaint filed by the woman and Chandak was arrested on December 11, 2024, Bar and Bench reported.

Chandak, in his petition seeking bail, denied the allegation that he had taken the woman to his relative’s flat and raped her. He claimed that what took place between them was consensual sex and not rape. He added that the woman herself had agreed to go to his home and rest.

In his order, Singh noted that the woman was a postgraduate student and was “competent enough to understand the morality and significance of her act as disclosed by her in the FIR”.

The order added that in the woman’s medical examination, “her hymen was found torn but doctor did not give any opinion about the sexual assault”.

Singh said: “Considering the facts and circumstances of the case as well as keeping in view the nature of the offence, evidence, complicity of the accused and submissions of the learned counsel for the parties, I am of the view that the applicant has made out a fit case for bail.”