PRAYAGRAJ, May 27 -- The Allahabad high court said that courts are witnessing a "growing trend" of consensual relationships turning sour, being converted into criminal prosecutions for rape. Making the observation the court quashed criminal proceedings against a Gorakhpur man accused of rape on the false promise of marriage. The court said that the misuse of criminal law in such cases was a matter of "profound concern" and warned against trivialising rape. Justice Vivek Kumar Singh passed the order while allowing an application filed by Sanjay @ Sanjay Kashyap under Section 528 BNSS, seeking quashing of the charge-sheet, cognisance order and entire proceedings in a rape case registered at Pipraich police station of Gorakhpur. The court held that in the case "consensual relationships going on for a prolonged period, upon turning sour, had been sought to be criminalised by invoking criminal jurisprudence" and continuation of such prosecution would amount to "gross misuse of criminal jurisdiction". The high court said every failed promise of marriage cannot be treated as rape unless it is shown that the accused never intended to marry the woman from the inception of the relationship. According to the FIR lodged on March 30, 2024, the complainant alleged that she met the accused at a marriage ceremony about a year earlier. The accused allegedly gifted her a mobile phone and later promised marriage before her family members. The woman claimed that they developed intimacy after the promise of marriage and that the accused later began avoiding the issue of marriage before ultimately refusing to marry her....