K'taka HC quashes rape case against man misled by married woman's false profile on dating app
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has quashed a rape case filed against a man by a woman who falsely claimed to be divorced on a dating app. The court observed that a promise of marriage cannot hold legal ground when the complainant is already married.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna delivered the judgement while allowing the petition filed by Akhil Thomas, who was accused under s. 376, 420, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The woman, whom he met on the Bumble app, had portrayed herself as a divorced individual, despite her marriage still being valid.
The petitioner contended that their relationship was consensual and not based on any promise of marriage. He also pointed out that he withdrew from the relationship upon learning about her marital status.
During the hearing, the complainant’s counsel informed the court that she did not wish to pursue the matter further and left the decision to the court. However, the prosecution argued that the petitioner should face a full trial for the alleged offences.
The court noted, “If the complainant was already married and her marriage was subsisting, there cannot be a valid promise of marriage. The other allegations are consensual acts, which do not constitute rape under s. 376 IPC.” It further stated that continuing the proceedings would amount to an abuse of legal process and a miscarriage of justice.
The court quashed the case pending before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.
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Mule bank accounts frozen in crackdown on cyber fraudsters in Karnataka, 68 held
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka State Cyber Command has arrested 68 people as part of a statewide drive against mule bank accounts and “mule herders” involved in cyber fraud, officials said on Friday.
The special operations, which have been continuing since last week across Karnataka, targeted networks engaged in aggregating and selling mule bank accounts used for cyber crimes.
The arrests were made between December 2025 and February 2026, police said in an updated report.
“The Karnataka Cyber Command has conducted statewide special operations against Mule accounts and mule herders across Karnataka. The special drive has continued since last week and this is an updated report,” the department said in a statement.
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Police said the investigation identified a network of “mule herders” — individuals who aggregate and misuse mule bank accounts — who were retailing and selling such accounts to cyber criminals.
A total of 68 key accused and suspects have been arrested during the period.
According to the statement, mule herders had collected personal information and documents from unsuspecting laypersons and opened multiple bank accounts in the names of their relatives.
“These accounts were operated in a business-like manner,” it added.
As part of the crackdown, police registered 60 cases and identified 869 mule accounts across the state. As many as 8,788 complaints were registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) against the identified mule accounts.
The total money involved in all NCRP-linked crimes stood at Rs 85.05 crore, of which Rs 13.43 crore has been put on hold, the Cyber Command said.
During the drive, police obtained 32 search warrants and conducted 35 searches. In the searches, 35 ATM cards, 37 passbooks, 80 mobile phones, 28 cheque books and 22 SIM cards were seized, along with other incriminating materials, officials said. Pronab Mohanty, the Director General of Police (Karnataka State Cyber Command) supervised the special drive, police added.
