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Delhi High Court
– Photo : Amar Ujala
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The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to a juvenile accused of raping a minor girl in a POCSO case. The minor girl and the accused juvenile loved each other. The court said that many cases were registered on the orders of families who objected to the romantic relationship. Due to this, many youths are in jail. Hearing the case, Justice Subramaniam Prasad said that at the relevant time the victim was about 17 years old and the petitioner accused was about 21 years old.
He said that consensual sex is had between girls below 18 years of age and boys below 18 years of age. The age above 20 years is in a legally grey area, as the consent given by a minor girl is not a valid consent in the eyes of the law. Adding that the petitioner’s future cannot be ignored, the judge said that if he remains in jail, the chances of him coming out as a hardened criminal are very high.
The girl’s mother had lodged a missing complaint regarding her daughter, who was later found living with the petitioner. An FIR was lodged for the offences of kidnapping, aggravated penetrative sexual assault as well as rape under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The prosecutor initially said she had voluntarily gone with her lover, the petitioner, and married him and is now pregnant, but later retracted her stand.
Justice Subramonium Prasad said, ‘This court is of the opinion that the present case is of a love affair. At this stage, this court is not going into the question whether the petitioner has committed the offences under POCSO and IPC, this court is only concerned with whether a youth who has been in jail for the last three years should be granted bail or not. In light of the fact that the victim has changed her stand in her statements.
This Court has been continuously observing that POCSO cases are being registered at the behest of the girl’s family who object to her friendship and romantic relationship with a young boy and the law is being misused in such cases resulting in the young boys ending up in jail. The Court further noted that earlier also the petitioner had run away from her house twice and as per her statement given to the doctors, her mother was aware of this relationship.