Sexual intercourse: Minor’s consent of no consequence, says HC

The high court has said that even if it is assumed that a minor girl consented for making physical relations, her consent is of no consequence and the accused will have to face criminal proceedings.

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court has said that even if it is assumed that a minor girl consented for making physical relations, her consent is of no consequence and the accused will have to face criminal proceedings.

It was also argued that even if it is assumed that the girl was violated, she was a consenting party as she did not raise any hue and cry while she was being allegedly raped.

The high court bench of justice Manjari Nehru Kaul dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of one Manpreet Singh booked by Punjab Police in Amritsar on January 4 this year for raping a minor. It was alleged that the accused, after entering the 15-year-old victim’s house, indulged in inappropriate behaviour, violated her and after clicking her obscene pictures fled. An FIR was lodged on the complaint of the victim’s father.

In high court, the accused argued that false allegations have been levelled against him and no occurrence as alleged even took place. There was a history of some animosity between the accused and the son of a former sarpanch and since the victim’s father was an associate of the sarpanch, a concocted story had been brought forth. It cannot be digested that the petitioner would have mustered the courage to intrude into the house of the complainant and committed rape that too when maternal aunt and cousin of the complainant were present in the house, he claimed. It was also argued that even if it is assumed that the girl was violated, she was a consenting party as she did not raise any hue and cry while she was being allegedly raped.

The bench of justice Manjari Nehru Kaul observed that prima facie there are serious and specific allegations against the accused of not only entering the house but also raping the minor. “A perusal of the FIR also reveals that even prior to the crime, the petitioner had been indulging in inappropriate behaviour and harassing the victim. Even assuming that the victim may have been a consenting party, her consent would be of no consequence being a minor,” the bench said, dismissing the plea.

On the argument of animosity between parties and frame-up, the bench said that claims of the accused are hard to digest and would be best left to the police to look into the same during their investigation.