E-Paper
Chandigarh: Age of ‘minor victim’ remains unproven in court, seven let off
The Chandigarh court found that the complainant’s claim of being a 15-year-old minor could not be substantiated
A local court on Monday acquitted seven individuals in a case involving a minor’s rape, child marriage and dowry demand, after the prosecution failed to prove key charges, notably the complainant’s age.
The court found that the complainant’s claim of being a 15-year-old minor could not be substantiated. Further, DNA evidence revealed that her infant was fathered by another man, Gulab Singh, with whom she was having an affair. As a result, the charges against the girl’s husband, in-laws and parents were dropped.
The court acquitted the complainant’s husband Ranjeet Thakur, his father Bijender Thakur, mother Kala Devi, brother-in-law Nand Kishore, complainant’s parents Narayan Thakur and Ratan Devi, and also Gulab Singh.
As per the prosecution, a call was received on the Child Helpline number in February 2020 about a minor girl being found at the Chandigarh railway station. The girl was then lodged at a Sector-15 shelter home.
The girl, claiming to be 15 years old then, had lodged a complaint against her husband and in-laws, claiming that she was pregnant and her in-laws had been beating her for dowry.
But the prosecution did not pursue the verification of her age through bone ossification tests, said defence counsel Pradeep Kumar. “It was found that the girl ran away from her native village as she was having an affair with another person. She then cooked up the entire story and got her husband and in laws booked in a case of rape and child marriage,” he added.
