CJI marital rape query in a consensual relationship Counsel for the complainant woman said the consent was obtained by fraud Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde on Monday wondered whether a consensual sexual relationship can be termed rape because the man had refused to marry. “If two people are married to each other and are living as husband and wife, the husband may be brutal and commit wrong. But can the act of sexual intercourse between lawfully wedded man and wife be called rape?” the CJI asked advocate Aditya Vashishtnath, appearing for the complainant woman. The counsel said the consent was obtained by fraud as the man, Vinay Pratap Singh, had taken the woman to Manali in Himachal Pradesh and had married her at a local temple in the year 2014. However, subsequently, he married another woman and was refusing to accept the complainant as his wife.