In a bizarre incident, a special court in Mumbai granted bail to a 25-year-old man who raped and impregnated a 16-year-old girl after he expressed willingness to marry the minor girl.
According to reports, the POCSO Act court granted bail to the accused, who is already married, after it found that their relationship was ‘consensual’. The 16-year old’s mother has also submitted an affidavit seeking the release of the accused stating that her daughter had given birth to their daughter.
The court also noted that the man was ‘willing’ to marry the minor after two years when she is an adult.
Meanwhile, the police had opposed the bail of the accused as there was no evidence to show that the man’s first wife had consented to his second marriage. The police also alleged that the man had lured the minor girl who was not aware of the consequences and now intends to take undue advantage by offering to marry her.
Accused’s community allows him to marry more than once
However, the lawyer representing the case said that the man was allowed to marry more than once in the community of the accused.
Hearing the argument, the court passed the order saying that it cannot be said the first marriage of the accused was not within their knowledge. The court said that as it is submitted that the minor intends to marry him and the accused is also willing to marry her once she turns 18 and the affair is a consensual relationship, there was no need to keep the accused behind bars.
The court further said that, there was nothing to reject the bail application of the accused.
Details of the case
According to the prosecution, the accused is an acquaintance of the girl’s father. The minor girl and the accused had consensual resulting in minor girl becoming pregnant. The and the girl had kept her pregnancy a secret.
As the minor girl informed the accused about her pregnancy, he threatened her not to disclose his identity as the father of her unborn child.
The mother of the victim noticed the body changes and suspected that her daughter was pregnant. Later, the family found out the accused and lodged a complaint against the accused. The accused was arrested on October 23.
