Years
The bench said that the later marriage of the accused with the victim does not forgive the crime committed in her childhood. Accepting such rescue will weaken the basic objective of the Poxo Act.
The Madras High Court sentenced a 22 -year -old man to ten years imprisonment for having sex with a 17 -year -old girl under sexual offenses (Poxo) Act, who became his wife during the trial. The High Court, while giving the verdict in strong words, said that the Poxo Act is very clear that there is no question of consent before the age of 18 years. The bench said that the later marriage of the accused with the victim does not forgive the crime committed in her childhood. Accepting such rescue will weaken the basic objective of the Poxo Act.
It is being told that the girl and her husband were neighbors and the two started loving each other. When the girl’s parents came to know about this relationship, a quarrel started between the two families. Later, the girl’s parents decided to marry her to someone else. The girl contacted the accused in protest against the fixed marriage and fled to Mysore in Karnataka, where he stayed at a relative’s house for a few days. After knowing that the girl’s parents lodged a missing complaint, the couple returned to their hometown. In a statement recorded earlier by a female police officer, the girl said that the accused had sex with her.
Given the High Court that she was a minor at the time of the incident, no consent or escape could be considered as she was legally a baby girl under the definition given in the Poxo Act. The court concluded that such crimes should not only be considered a crime against a person, but should be considered a crime against society.
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