Calcutta High Court Refuses To Quash Rape Case Against Man Accused Of Raping 15-Yr-Old In 2016

The Calcutta High Court has refused to quash a POCSO case against a man who is accused of raping a minor girl in 2016. The accused and the victim - who is now a major, are stated to have been in love when the alleged incident took place.

The single judge bench of Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul) observed:

“The fact of them (accused and victim) being married to other persons does not lessen the offence alleged, considering the prima facie materials on record.”

A case was lodged by the victim’s father in January 2016 against the accused-petitioner under Section 448 (Punishment for house-trespass), Section 493 (Cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage), Section 376 (Punishment for rape) of IPC and Section 4 (Punishment for penetrative sexual assault), Section 8 (Punishment for sexual assault) of POCSO Act alleging that the 22-year-old entered his house on January 11, 2016 around 11 a.m. and forcibly raped his minor daughter, who was aged about 15 years.

After the completion of investigation, the police filed a charge sheet against the accused-petitioner for the alleged offences. The petitioner approached the High Court to quash the criminal proceedings for the alleged offences.

The petitioner contended that as per the complaint, the accused and victim were in love and as per medical report, there were no marks of injury in victim’s private parts.

The petitioner further submitted before the court that he is a day labourer and he is now a married person having married another woman. On the other hand, it was submitted that the victim is also now a married to a different person.

The court said the materials on record including the medical report, age of the victim and the statement prima facie reveal a case "against the petitioner of committing a cognizable offence and quashing the proceedings at the stage would amount to an abuse of the process of law/court.”

The court dismissed the revision petition stating that the materials on record are sufficient for the case to proceed towards trial.

Case Title: BB v. The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Cal) 71

Coram: Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul)

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