Bihar court lets off rape accused after he marries victim

A special Pocso court in Bihar’s Sasaram on Wednesday acquitted a man accused of raping a minor girl in 2019 after he married the victim, as directed earlier by the court, and also ordered the state government to pay ₹1.25 lakh in compensation to the new bride.

A special Pocso court in Bihar’s Sasaram on Wednesday acquitted a man accused of raping a minor girl in 2019 after he married the victim, as directed earlier by the court, and also ordered the state government to pay ₹1.25 lakh in compensation to the new bride.

The Pocso court has also ordered the district child protection unit to submit half-yearly status report of the girl to the court for two years. (Picture for representation)

Special public prosecutor in the case, Shahina Qumar, said that though the judgment, passed by Posco (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court judge Ashutosh Kumar, was not appropriate in law, it could be welcomed in the interest of justice and humanity.

The case dates back to November 28, 2019, when the girl’s mother, Manju Devi, filed a case in the court that one Azad Khan had kidnapped her 16-year-old daughter with the intention of marrying her and taken her to Rajasthan. The court ordered Sasaram Town police station to register a case.

Accordingly, a case of abduction and rape and for offences under POCSO Act was registered against Azad Khan, his mother Hasina Begum and friend Tunu Sai. The charge sheet, however, only named Azad Khan.

Locally, the case had assumed communal overtones.

Khan and the girl were brought by police to Sasaram on September 24 last year. The girl, by then pregnant, told police she loved Azad Khan and had been living a happy life with him. She also expressed her wish to go to her matrimonial house, but police sent Azad to jail and handed over the girl to her parents.

Meanwhile, the girl’s parents threw her out after a few months. She contacted Azad in jail and went to live at his home where she delivered their girl child.

After the court was apprised of details, it called Azad and the girl, now a major, and counselled them to register their marriage under the Special Marriage Act, to which they agreed. Bail was granted to Azad on March 16 and he married the girl on April 4. Mothers of the groom and the bride signed as witness in the marriage, special public prosecutor Shahina Qumar said.

On Wednesday, the court acquitted Azad. “The purpose of the POCSO Act is to protect the best interests of the child under Article 15 B of the Constitution and to protect his or her right to privacy and confidentiality. Therefore, unless the accused has a criminal mindset, if the juveniles interact in the present environment and give a socially recognized character to their relationship, a rigorous analysis of the Act would discourage its very purpose”.

The court has also ordered the district child protection unit to submit half-yearly status report of the girl to the court for two years.