Shivani Thakur
Published on: May 5, 2022 at 17:16 IST
A Special Court in Mumbai convicted a 26-year-old man for Offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act for sexually assaulting and impregnating a 15-year-old.
“From the Cross-Examination of the Victim, it is clear that she was having love affair with the accused and the sexual relations were consensual. However, it is already proved that the victim was minor at the time of incident…”
“If, a person commits Penetrative Sexual Assault on a child then, the offence is made out and there is no need to prove that the accused had no knowledge of the juvenility of the Victim,” she observed.
The Accused and the minor were ‘in a relationship’ and often met. The family discovered the pregnancy in June 2016 when the girl took ill and was hospitalised.
Special Prosecutor Geeta Sharma, claimed that the victim was pregnant and hospitalised when the complaint was filed. She informed the court that the survivor’s pregnancy had been medically terminated, and the DNA of the fetus indicated that the accused was the biological father.
Advocate Sudarshan Gamare defending the accused stated that the accused was willing to marry the minor girl, but her family was reluctant. Therefore, he contended that the accused committed no crime and deserved to be acquitted.
He called the Court’s attention to the fact that the victim testified that the complaint was submitted on her mother’s and grandmother’s instance, not her own.
The DNA Report corroborated that there was Penetrative Sexual Assault on the survivor at the hands of accused, the court held that the prosecution had proved that he had committed the Offences alleged against him.
The accused was unable to present any proof or credible explanation to counter the inference. Even in his recorded Testimony under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code, he indicated that the survivor informed him that she was a major.
“The presumption remain un-rebutted, inference required to be drawn that accused has committed Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault upon Victim, a minor aged 15 years 8 months on more than one occasion,” it concluded.
The Court, therefore, Convicted him of the Offences of Rape under the Indian Penal Code and Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
He was sentenced to 10 years Rigorous Imprisonment along with a Fine of ₹5,000 out of which ₹3,000 was directed to be paid to the minor girl as Compensation.