'Will you marry her?' SC's question to rape accused

The top court was hearing the bail plea of Mohit Subhash Chavan, a technician with the Maharashtra State Electric Production Company.

Chief Justice of India SA Bobde told the petitioner's lawyer, who was seeking protection against his client's arrest, that the court could help the accused if he was willing to marry the victim and if not he would lose his job and go to jail, reported NDTV.

 "You seduced the girl, raped her," Bobde said, reprimanding the accused.

According to the report, the accused said in his petition that his mother had offered marriage to the girl when she approached the police, but she had reportedly refused. A document was drawn up saying that the marriage would take place when the girl turned 18. However, when she did, Chavan refused to marry her, after which a rape complaint was filed.

The Chief Justice asked the accused man: "Will you marry her?" reported NDTV.

"You should have thought before seducing and raping the young girl. You knew you are a government servant," the Chief Justice was further quoted as saying in the report.

"We are not forcing you to marry. Let us know if you will. Otherwise you will say we are forcing you to marry her," Bobde told the petitioner's lawyer.

However, Chavan said he was no longer in the position to marry the victim. "Initially I wanted to marry her. But she refused. Now I cannot as I am already married," he was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Pointing out that the charges were yet to be framed against him, he told the court that he would be automatically suspended if he was arrested. To this, the top court said Chavan was being given protection from arrest for four weeks and he could apply for a regular bail after that, the report stated.