India, May 11 -- A sessions court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 33-year-old man accused of rape and cheating, observing that a consensual relationship spanning over two years on the promise of marriage cannot automatically be treated as rape.

Additional Sessions Judge Ruby U. Malvankar acquitted Shahbaz Mohammad Salim Khan, a resident of Mumbra, of charges under the Indian Penal Code related to rape and cheating. A copy of the May 2 order was made available on Sunday.

According to the prosecution, the accused befriended the complainant, a divorcee with two daughters, while both were employed at a mall in Thane. It was alleged that Khan established physical relations with her between 2016 and 2018 after promising to mar...