No Means No, Says Himachal Judge Denying Bail To Rape-Accused

The man had allegedly offered the girl a ride home in his jeep when she waiting for a bus.

Denying bail to a man accused of raping a 17-year-old girl he knew, a judge in Himachal Pradesh dismissed his claims of consent and said: "No means No - the simplest of sentences has become most difficult for some men to understand". The man was arrested on December 18, a day after a police complaint was filed by the teen in Rajgarh in Himachal Pradesh, around 90 km from Shimla. He had allegedly offered the girl a ride home in his jeep on December 17 when she waiting for a bus. When she sat in the jeep the man allegedly took a detour, took her to a deserted spot and raped her. The girl said "no" to him, Judge Anoop Chitkara noted in his order. He threatened to force himself on her and asked her to marry him, when she again said no. He allegedly raped her and left her on the road. After she took a bus home, she told her mother and the family registered an FIR.