New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS) Declining bail to a man who had sex with a girl after deluding her with false promise of marriage, the Delhi High Court Monday termed it 'rape' and said the man had played with the girl's emotions.

Justice V.K. Jain declined to grant bail to the man who had petitioned for anticipatory bail after raping his fiancee.

The court said: 'Persuading a girl to have physical relations on the false promise of marriage, despite having no intention to marry, will in no case constitute rape, (but) will amount to putting premium on a conduct which is not only highly reprehensible and abhorrent but also criminal in nature.'

'The courts cannot and should not give such a license to those who keep on looking for opportunities to exploit the sentiments and vulnerability of Indian girls who perceive marriage as a pious bonding and not as a union of two bodies,' the court said.

The court also said that bail should not be granted in such cases as there is a possibility of the accused escaping from the clutches of law.

'If a girl surrenders herself to a boy, who comes into contact with her for the first time only in connection with a proposal for her marriage with him and who not only proposes to marry her but also formalizes his promise and strengthens her belief in his promise by entering into a formal ceremony such as engagement with her and thereby convinces her that he is actually going to marry her, she does it not because she loves him or wants to have pleasure with him, but because she does not want to disappoint her future husband,' the court said.

In the present case, the accused Nikhil Parasar had come in contact with the victim through a marriage portal and their family agreed to their marriage.

Subsequently, their parents arranged a pre-marriage ceremony or 'Roka'.

After the ceremony, the couple used to meet frequently and the accused had allegedly forced the girl to have sexual relations against her wishes. Later, the boy refused to marry her and she filed a criminal complaint against him after which he absconded.

Apprehending arrest, the accused approached the court for bail.