On Sunday, November 15th, the Speaker of the Assembly in Arunachal Pradesh, India, Nabam Rebia, was charged with physical and mental assault, based on his “false promise to marry” by his live-in girlfriend of four years. A First Information Report, (FIR,) which enables the police to arrest without warrant, was drawn up based on her complaints. FIRs are written by the police and can only be filed when they believe that a “cognisable” crime has, indeed, been committed.

The complainant cited false promises to marry her since 2011 and several instances of emotional harm; including damaging her reputation and making her the victim of scorn. The specific charges were cheating, breech of trust and fraud. Also charged were members of Rebia’s family for engaging in a “disinformation campaign.”

Rebia, 51, graduated with an LLB from Delhi University in 1986. He was unanimously elected as Speaker of the Assembly on June 3, 2014, in Aranchal Pradesh, the most Northeastern of India’s 29 states. He’s a member of the oldest political party in India, the Indian National Congress, which has the most enduring history of leading modern day India. The party is currently headed by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, the first female Prime Minister of India.

Perception of sexual assault by fraud on disparate continents

It’s ironic that sexual assault by fraud is widely understood in many corners of the globe, except the US. Assembly Legislation #3908, in New Jersey, has languished in committee for over a year, with nay-sayers continually demonizing the bill. You’d think in a progressive country, who claims to champion human rights, there would be wholehearted support for the concept that inducing sex by tricking someone is a crime!

And it’s not simply performed by low-lifes like William Allen Jordan who concoct absurd fabrications, (such as being a secret agent for the British government.) Offenders can be people of great authority who have won the trust of society….. a trust they misuse at their pleasure in their private dealings.