India’s Allahabad High Court granted bail to the accused on 15 October after finding that a transgender woman was outside the protection of Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the country’s criminal code.
The provision punishes sex obtained through deceitful means or a marriage promise made without any intention of fulfilling it. It carries up to ten years’ imprisonment and a fine.
The State opposed bail, arguing that the complainant should be included in the definition of a woman. A court-appointed lawyer also cited earlier judgments supporting transgender women’s legal recognition.
Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal instead applied the transgender definition in force before a March 2026 amendment, because the alleged incident preceded that change. He found no prima facie case under Section 69.
The judge pointed to Section 18(d) of the 2019 transgender rights law, which punishes abuse, including sexual abuse, with up to two years’ imprisonment. He restricted his interpretation to Section 69. The accused must cooperate with the trial and avoid influencing witnesses as conditions of release.
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