Rape Accused Journalist Gets Protection From Arrest, All You Need To Know About The Case

Journalist Given Protection From Arrest: Varun Hiremath, a Mumbai-based journalist was granted protection from arrest by the Delhi High Court on April 9, Friday.

A woman had filed a case against Hiremath accusing him of raping her. During the court hearing earlier, the issue of the survivor and accused previously being involved in a sexual relationship was raised. The court rejected such argument and ruled, "previous sexual experiences with any person shall not be relevant on the issue of such consent or the quality of consent." The argument was presented by the accused person's lawyer in order to get him bail.

Here is all you need to know about the case:

• According to the FIR filed by the woman on February 23, she met Hiremath on Tinder, and later they met when he visited Delhi. They developed a sexual relationship with each other previously.
• The victim accused Hiremath of raping her in a five-star hotel in Chanakyapuri on February 20.
• Hiremath claimed the accusations "false and frivolous" as the FIR was filed three days after the date of their meeting.
• The High Court granted interim protection from arrest to Hiremath.
• He was represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Vijay Aggarwal.
• He was allowed to "put his version forward" to "verify the true facts of the case" by a single-judge bench of Justice Mukta Gupta who granted him interim protection.
• Earlier Hiremath pleaded for bail on the basis of his past sexual relationship with the model. However, the court dismissed the plea. The body stated, "previous sexual experiences with any person shall not be relevant on the issue of such consent or the quality of consent."

The judge said, "In her statement under Section 164 CrPC specifically denied that the act was the consented one and she has repeatedly mentioned that despite her resistance and unwillingness, the accused kept on doing the same to her and her not able to resist the same."

• The Delhi Police issued a lookout circular against him that prohibited him from leaving the country.
• The arrest of Hiremath was anticipated under sections 376 (punishment for rape), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), and 509 (insulting modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.