The Bombay High Court has fined a woman Rs 25,000 for a case in which she had accused a man of raping her and coercing her to have two abortions six years ago. However, she later recanted her allegations, stating that the relationship was consensual and there was no coercion involved.

In an order dated September 20, a division bench consisting of Justices Anuja Prabhudessai and N R Borkar, the details of which were made available on Tuesday, observed that the woman had even affirmed in the high court that she had willingly chosen to terminate her pregnancies.

The individual accused in the case had approached the high court to request the quashing of the First Information Report (FIR) related to the case.

In the court's order, it was stated that the complainant had submitted an affidavit affirming that her association with the accused was consensual. She also declared that she had voluntarily opted to terminate the pregnancies because she was not in a legal marriage at the time. The complainant asserted that she is currently married to another individual, has a child, and is leading a harmonious family life. As a result, she provided her consent to quash the First Information Report (FIR) and any subsequent legal proceedings.

The judges ruled in favor of quashing the FIR as requested. However, they also instructed the woman to make a payment of Rs 25,000 as a cost within a two-week period to the Tata Memorial Hospital in the area.

In 2017, the woman had lodged a complaint in which she alleged that the accused had raped her, and that his family members had pressured her into terminating her pregnancy on two separate occasions.

The court observed that even if the allegations mentioned in the First Information Report (FIR) were entirely accepted, it was evident that the physical relationship between the individuals involved was consensual.