Bombay High Court: Dismissing an appeal by a Pune based labourer convicted for kidnapping and rape, Honble Sadhna S. Jadhav, J observed that the consent of a minor cannot be taken into consideration to justify consensual intercourse. In the present case the victim aged barely 14 years and studying in Class 7, left her house after an altercation with her mother stating that she was going to her grandmothers house but never reached there. After a few days she managed to call her mother and inform her that she had been kidnapped in a house in Baramati and was subsequently rescued by the police. According to the prosecution, the girl told the police that the accused took her by truck after promising to marry her and then raped her, warning her not to disclose anything to anyone. The amicus curiae appointed by the court argued that the girl was with the accused for 5 days and during this time she never raised an alarm which proved that she had gone without any force. The advocate also pointed to contradictions in the statements by the victim, who told the doctor who examined her, that she had known the accused for four months before the incident and that she had agreed to intercourse as the accused had assured to marry her. However, the public prosecutor countered that this would still amount to an offence of rape as the girl was barely 14 years old at the time of the incident and that her consent could not be taken into consideration. The Court observed that the appellant, who was a married man and a father of two children, had obtained consent under the pretext of marriage. Placing implicit faith upon the sterling testimony of the victim, the Court held that it cannot be oblivious to the fact that the victim was found in the custody of the appellant and held that it was far from the truth that the accused was wrongly implicated. [Mahadeo @ Bapu Hanumant Pol vs. State of Maharashtra, Criminal Appeal No. 934 of 2009, decided on February 24, 2014].
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 06:21:07 +0000
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