Court leniency for youth ‘in love’

A city court has given the “least possible sentence” to a 21-year-old man who ran away with a minor girl and married her after she had converted to Hinduism, saying “one cannot love and be wise”.

A city court has given the “least possible sentence” to a 21-year-old man who ran away with a minor girl and married her after she had converted to Hinduism, saying “one cannot love and be wise”.

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Additional sessions judge (ASJ) Virender Bhat convicted Deepu Kumar of kidnapping after he pleaded guilty. But the court virtually let him off as the punishment awarded to him was a daylong detention in the courtroom. Under Section 363 of the IPC, maximum punishment for kidnapping a minor from lawful guardianship is seven-year imprisonment. However, Bhat said: “The convict is sentenced to imprisonment for a period till rising of the Court along with a fine of Rs 1,000.”