In the verdict delivered on July 9, Special POCSO court judge D S Deshmukh noted that the girl, who was 15 at the time, testified that the relationship was consensual and that she later married the accused
The judge noted that the prosecution's witness (the girl's father) admitted that the victim fled with the accused on her own wish. Representational Pic
A Thane court has acquitted a 25-year-old man from Jharkhand who was accused of kidnapping and raping a minor girl in 2020, citing a lack of support for the prosecution's case.
In the verdict delivered on July 9, Special POCSO court judge D S Deshmukh noted that the girl, who was 15 at the time, testified that the relationship was consensual and that she later married the accused, as per news agency PTI.
The couple now has two children. The victim’s father also told the court he had no complaint against the man. The case dates back to January 2, 2020, when the girl left her home in Bhayander, Thane district. A missing person’s report was filed by her father two days later.
The man was subsequently booked on charges of rape and kidnapping under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, according to PTI.
However, during the trial, the victim and her father contradicted the initial police report.
The court established the victim was a "child" under the POCSO Act, based on her stated birth date of June 15, 2004, and an age estimation report from the state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai, which placed her age between 16 and 17 years at the time of the incident.
The judge noted that the prosecution's witness (the girl's father) admitted that the victim fled with the accused on her own wish.
They had a love affair and the accused did not have forcible sexual relations with the witness's daughter, he noted.
"He (witness) also admitted that the accused and victim are husband and wife, they have two children and are residing happily. He has no complaint against the accused," the court said, reported news agency PTI.
The victim also affirmed a consensual relationship.
Her testimony indicates that she and the accused had a love affair. They used to talk on a mobile phone and when her mother came to know about their love affair, she stopped her from going to school, the court said.
The girl wanted to marry the accused. Therefore, on January 2, 2020, under the pretext of going to the bathroom, she went out of the house, met the accused and they both went to Patna, it noted, as per PTI.
"There, they got married and they had physical relations with her consent," it said.
The victim further admitted in her cross-examination that the "accused is her husband, they have two children and she has no complaint against him," the court stated, reported PTI.
The victim's entire evidence supported the accused instead of the prosecution, it observed.
Therefore, her testimony is not of any use to the prosecution to prove its case, the court said.
"However, considering her entire evidence, statement u/sec 164 of CrPC, and considering that at the time of incident she was 17 years old, means she has attained the age of understanding the nature and consequences of act she indulged in, the accused can not be held guilty of the commission of offence," it said.
"Neither the prime witnesses have supported the prosecution's story at all. The victim got married to the accused, they have two children and she has no grievance against the accused. In such circumstances, there is nothing on record to prove the guilt of the accused," the court said, reported PTI.
It further stated that the foundational facts to attract presumptions of the POCSO Act were not proven.
(With PTI inputs)
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