HC rejects anticipatory bail plea of man accused of sexual exploitation on false promise of marriage

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail application of Prajwal Rajkumar Mate, who is accused of sexually exploiting a woman on the false promise of marriage.

Justice M. M. Nerlikar passed the order on October 14, 2026, in Criminal Application No. 806/2026. The case was registered at Sitabuldi police station under Sections 64(2)(m) and 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

According to the prosecution, the accused and the woman got to know each other through Instagram. The woman alleges that the accused had physical relations with her on the promise of marriage, and that this allegedly happened around 20 to 25 times.

The complaint further states that the accused later began avoiding talk of marriage. The woman then consumed a poisonous substance. She survived after treatment and then told her family about the alleged incidents.

During the hearing, the defence argued that the relationship was consensual and that the accused wanted to marry the woman. The prosecution and the woman's lawyers opposed the anticipatory bail application.

After examining the available chat records, the FIR and other material on record, the court said the chats did not suggest that the accused intended to marry the woman.

The court also said that, at this stage, the allegations appeared to satisfy the essential ingredients of Section 69 of the BNS. Finding no ground to grant anticipatory bail, it rejected the application.

Advocates Sumit Sunil Bokade and Deepak Khandait appeared for the woman. Senior advocates Akshay Naik and K. S. Motwani argued for the accused, while Additional Public Prosecutor S. N. Thakur appeared for the state government.

The rejection of anticipatory bail does not mean the accused has been held guilty. The allegations remain allegations and are subject to further criminal proceedings and the verdict in accordance with law.