Trending:

Karnataka High Court quashes POCSO after accused and victim marry consensually

The victim's father reported his minor daughter missing in March 2019. The accused was discovered with the girl. Both of them stated that they had behaved mutually. However, the offender was charged under the POCSO Act even though the girl was just 17 years old. Before being released on bail, he was imprisoned for 18 months. After his release in November 2020, the couple was married.

Mirror Now Digital

Updated Aug 24, 2022, 17:11 IST

Representative Image.

Photo : iStock

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

The girl had eloped with the accused a few years ago when she was a minor.
The duo got married after sometime, as she said she liked the accused and their relationship was consensual.

Bengaluru: A 23-year-old man was charged with rape under the Indian Penal Code and with sexual offences against children under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. The Karnataka High Court dismissed the accusations against him.

While the case was pending in a Sessions Court, the 17-year-old victim had married him after turning 18 and the couple even had a child, Hindustan Times reported.

According to the HC, given the circumstances, the prosecution "barely proves the guilt against the petitioner."

“If the victim is going to turn hostile in a trial at a later point in time and the petitioner gets acquitted of all the offences, the sword of crime would have torn the soul of the accused. It is not the end result that is painful or otherwise, but the process in the criminal justice system that generates such pain,” the HC observed.

The HC declared that it was appropriate to accept the parties' settlement and end the proceedings, despite the prosecution's opposition.

In a recent ruling, the judge stated that in the teeth of these facts, blatant enough as they are, if the Court would shut its doors to the couple who are married and raising the child, the entire proceedings would result in a miscarriage of justice.

In March 2019, the victim's father reported his daughter, who was underage, missing. The girl was discovered with the accused. They both insisted they had acted consensually.

However, the girl was just 17 years old, and the accused was charged under POCSO Act. He spent 18 months in jail before being given bail. In November 2020, following his release, the couple was hitched.

They had a daughter a year later. Following the victim and the accused's marriage, various Constitutional Courts had terminated proceedings against the accused during the ongoing trial, the HC noted in its ruling.

Latest News