The Karnataka High Court, while granting anticipatory bail to a rape accused, said that it was “unbecoming of an Indian woman” to sleep after she is “ravished”, Live Law reported on Wednesday.

A single-judge bench led by Justice Krishna S Dixit expressed reservations about the complainant’s version of the case and passed the order on Monday. “The explanation offered by the complainant that after the perpetration of the act she was tired and fell asleep, is unbecoming of an Indian woman; this is not the way our women react when they are ravished,” Dixit observed.

He also questioned why the complainant did not raise an alarm when the accused got into her car, did not object to having alcohol with him, and her failure to file a complaint at the “earliest point” of time. “The version of the complainant that she had been to Indraprastha Hotel for dinner and that the petitioner having consumed drinks came and sat in the car, even if is assumed to be true, there is no explanation offered for not alerting the police or the public about the conduct of the petitioner,” Dixit said.

The judge added that the complainant could not explain why she went to office at 11 in the night. “She has also not objected to consuming drinks with the petitioner and allowing him to stay with her till morning,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state counsel strongly opposed the bail petition, contending that the charges against the accused were “quite serious” in nature and that “it is unsafe to the society” if such offenders are given advance bail.

The judge, however, said that the “serious nature” of the crime alone cannot be a criterion to deny liberty to a citizen, specifically when no “prima facie” case has been made out by the state police. “The version of the complainant that she was subjected to rape on the false promise of marriage in the given circumstances of the case is bit difficult to believe at this stage,” Dixit said. He questioned the complainant for not approaching the court earlier when the accused had allegedly “forced her for sexual favours”.

The court said prisoners are also at risk due to the coronavirus pandemic and granted the accused pre-arrest bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. The accused has been asked to not to leave the jurisdiction of the court and to mark his attendance before the jurisdictional police station every alternate Saturday.