Madras HC acquits POCSO convict as he marries victim
On November 2023, he married the victim girl with the consent from both families and leading a peaceful life, said the appellant and sought to acquit him from the POCSO case.
Madras High Court
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has set aside a 20-year jail term given to a man who had sexually harassed a minor girl, taking into account that he had later married her and that they were living as a couple now.
Justice M Nirmal Kumar wrote that the case arose out of a dispute in the relationship between the two, which was since resolved, hence the case cannot be quoted or referred to for disqualification or other adverse considerations against the appellant or the victim in their future endeavours.
The accused had moved the High Court seeking an acquittal from the conviction imposed by the Tiruvannamalai special court for 20 years of rigorous imprisonment under section 376 (2) (n) of IPC and sections 5 (1) 5 (j) (ii) and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He also submitted that her family had agreed to their relationship later.
The appellant submitted that in 2020, during the Covid-19 lockdown period, he was in an intimate relationship with a 15-year-old minor girl in the neighborhood. He was 19 then. The girl’s grandmother had filed a complaint after she found the girl to be pregnant. Based on the complaint, the police booked the youth under the POCSO Act for penetrative sexual assault and arrested him in 2021.
After investigation, the police submitted the final report before the Tiruvannamalai special court which found the accused guilty and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
In November 2023, after the girl turned 18, the youth married her with consent from both families.
The appellant submitted that they were leading a peaceful life as a couple and sought for acquittal in the POCSO case.
