Allahabad High Court Denies Bail To POCSO Accused Who Married Minor, Established Physical Relation With Her 'Consent'

The Allahabad High Court recently denied bail to a man accused of raping a minor girl (16-17 years old) after marrying her with her consent as the Court noted that the consent of the minor is no consent at all.

The bench of Justice Sadhna Rani (Thakur) opined that even if the minor she left her home, solemnized marriage, and had physical relations with the applicant with her consent, her consent, being consent of the minor, cannot be said to be of any significance.

In this case, the accused (Prveen Kashyap) was booked under Sections 363, 366, 376 I.P.C. and Sections 3/4 of the POCSO Act, 2012. Seeking bail in this case, the counsel for the applicant-accused submitted that as per the statement of the victim under Sections 161 and 164 Cr.P.C., she was a consenting party.

It was further submitted that the Victim herself left her home along with the accused and they solemnized marriage and were living together as husband and wife.  However, the Court refused to deny him bail as it stressed that at the time of the incident, the Girl was not major.

This ruling comes days after a co-ordinate bench of the High Court quashed a criminal case registered against a man under the POCSO Act noting that the accused man and victim-wife (who was a minor at the time of the incident) married the applicant/accused out of her own sweet will and is living a happy married life with him.

"To punish the offenders for a crime, involved in the present case, is in the interest of society, but, at the same time, the husband is taking care of his wife and in case, the husband is convicted and sentenced for societal interest, then, the wife will be in great trouble and their future would be ruined. It is also in the interest of society to settle and resettle the family for their welfare," the bench of Justice Manju Rani Chauhan had observed as it quashed the rape-POCSO case against the accused.

Read more about the case here: "If Husband/Accused Is Convicted Then Victim/Wife's Future Would Be Ruined" : Allahabad High Court Quashes POCSO Case

Similarly, in August this year, the Allahabad High Court had quashed another POCSO case registered against a man while noting that the accused man and victim-wife (who was a minor at the time of the incident) were 'happily' living with each other as husband and wife.

In February this year too, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to a POCSO Accused who ran away with a 14-year-old girl (victim) due to a romantic affair between them. The Court noted that both of them fled away, got married in a Temple, and remained in company with each other for almost two years during which the girl even gave birth to a baby.

Read more about the case here: POCSO Act Not Intended For Teenagers' Romantic Affair: Allahabad HC Grants Bail To Man Who Married 14-Yr-Old Victim

Case title - Prveen Kashyap v. State Of U.P. And 3 Others [CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 36810 of 2022]

Case Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (AB) 464

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