The Kerala High Court has granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam rapper Hiran Das Murali, who is popularly known by his stage name Vedan, in a rape case registered against him on charges of false promise of marriage. It was filed by a woman doctor who had claimed that she had met Vedan on Instagram in 2021. It turned into a relationship later. She alleged, as per her, Vedan had promised her marriage and, in the belief of marriage, she had sexual relations with him at different locations such as Kozhikode and Kochi from 2021 to 2023. She also asserted that she was repeatedly harassed during this time and has been undergoing psychiatric treatment for two years because of the psychological trauma inflicted on her.
While considering the plea, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas also mentioned inconsistencies in the woman’s account. He said that even after what was an alleged assault, the complainant let Vedan remain with her for several days and still met with him subsequently. The judge said that all these facts indicated the presence of consent and not coercion.
The court also made a broader comment on such cases, stating that consent based on a false promise of marriage must be differentiated from consent arising out of a relationship wherein marriage was only a possibility. It stated that labelling each failed relationship as rape would be unreasonable as well as harmful. “Simply because a promise to wed doesn’t end in wedlock, it can’t necessarily imply the intimacy was coerced,” the court noted. It continued that applying the criminal law in such a way may unjustly damage a person’s future. The lawyer for Vedan claimed that the relationship began when the complainant approached him as a fan, and the charges stemmed from personal conflicts. The High Court had previously issued him interim protection against arrest before passing this order.
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This is not the first time the 25-year-old rapper has found himself in trouble with the law. Previously, he was released on bail in a possession of a leopard tooth case, and he was also arrested in April during a narcotics raid.