SC:A Rapist's offer to Marry can't be a Ground for Letting off the Guilty

The Supreme Court of India on 27 August 2013 ruled that a rapist’s offer to marry the rape victim could never be a basis for letting off the guilty. The court ruled that no kind of compromise between rapists and rape survivors could mitigate the offence. Some courts impose lighter sentences on rape convicts after they offer to marry the survivor.

The apex court warned that to impose a sentence lesser than that prescribed in law would reflect stark insensitivity to the rape survivors. The court added that the punishment should always be proportionate and commensurate to the gravity of offence.

The court reasoned that it would encourage the convicts to pressurize rape survivors to reach a compromise and rape was always a crime against society.

The court clarified that compromise with rape survivors could not be cited as ground for leniency to those found guilty in gang-rape cases.