10. From the foregoing discussion of law on the subject, it is clear that while the nature of offence and severity of punishment is an important consideration for determining the bail plea of an accused, a prima facie view of involvement of the accused in the alleged crime is a factor which is also required to be considered. On this aspect of the matter, the learned counsel for the petitioner has highlighted the fact that on 29.01.2021 the prosecutrix had lodged a complaint before Women Police Station, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu against the petitioner. A copy of the said complaint has been placed on record. In the said complaint, the prosecutrix has not made even a whisper as regards the allegation of sexual assault committed by the petitioner upon her, though as per the case of the prosecution, the said sexual assault has taken place on 31.10.2020, much prior to the lodging of the aforesaid complaint. The only allegations made in the said complaint are that on the pretext of help, the petitioner has taken gold ornaments and money from her which he is not returning and instead is threatening her. The question as to why the prosecutrix did not disclose the incident of rape while making her earlier complaint before the police is a matter for the investigating agency to probe but one thing is clear that this circumstance does offer a defence to the petitioner against the charge of rape.
