India, March 6 -- The Supreme Court has ruled that a woman may not be able to accuse a man of forcing sexual relations on her through a promise of marriage if the two were in a long-term live-in relationship. The man can't be charged for rape if the couple was living together for a long period of time, the top court ruled, saying that in such cases, it is hard to determine whether the reason behind the sexual relations was just the promise of marriage, said a report by the Times of India.

The case in question was of a bank manager who was charged by his live-in partner of 16 years, a lecturer, of rape by saying that he established sexual relations with her over fake promise of marriage. The Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Vikram ...