A sessions court has refused to discharge a south Mumbai businessman, Padmakar Nandekar, a member of the Cuffe Parade Residents Association, who has been booked on the complaint of a Brazilian student for rape.
The court refused to accept the defence that the two were in a consensual relationship and said that the girl, being a foreign national, was more open in her expression and behaviour, but “that however cannot take place of consent”.
While refusing to discharge Nandekar, the court observed: “It needs to be considered that the victim was a responsibility of the accused, he being the local host. The accused was in a fiduciary relationship with the victim as her guardian in India. Such degree of expected relationship enhances the gravity of the offence.”
As per the prosecution case, the Brazilian girl was selected under a Students Cultural Exchange Programme in 2016. Nandekar was selected as her guardian in India. His daughter lives with a family in Spain under a similar exchange programme.
As such, the accused was the primary host of the victim girl. They had secured admission for the victim at KC College, Churchgate, Class 11. The girl came to India on August 30, 2018, and started living at the residence of the accused.
The court noted that the girl had narrated certain instances in her complaint alleging Nandekar’s conduct towards her. She had claimed that in April 2019, she had moved in with another family. Nandekar, on April 15, 2019, took her for dinner, where he first offered her wine. Later he took her to his residence on the pretext that she was under the influence of wine.
The girl was not comfortable and she messaged a friend. In her complaint, she said
Nandekar took her to his room and raped her. He also allegedly gave her Rs10,000, which she claimed to have thrown in a bin. The girl said that it was only after consulting a psychologist that she told her parents about the incident, and registered a case.
Nandekar claimed that the conduct of the complainant / victim about joining his company the next day showed that it was not a forcible act. It was submitted that there were no signs of resistance by the victim.
“The victim also used the credit card of the accused and visited the house of the accused in the absence of his wife, which shows consensual aspect of the relationship,” the defence argued.
The court, however, overruled the arguments and said: “As such, the prosecution has collected prima-facie material to establish that the accused has taken disadvantages of his role as host parent under The Youth Cultural Exchange Programme in respect of the victim girl within India and committed rape on the victim in absence of his family members at his own residence. There is nothing at this stage to believe that the victim girl had any reason to falsely implicate the accused.”
“The victim, being a foreign national, was probably more open and advanced with her expressions, interactions, behaviour and lifestyle. However, that cannot take the place of ‘consent’… for any sort of sexual relationship with the accused.”
