Relief for man convicted of kidnapping minor girl

A 24-year-old convicted of kidnapping a minor has been allowed to walk free by a Delhi court that observed that the man had eloped because he did not want his “beloved” to become someone else’s wife.

A 24-year-old convicted of kidnapping a minor has been allowed to walk free by a Delhi court that observed that the man had eloped because he did not want his “beloved” to become someone else’s wife.

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The court told the convict to spend days in trial. “In my opinion, any further sentence would be a travesty of justice,” additional sessions judge Virender Bhat felt.

The girl is yet to patch up with her parents and a longer imprisonment of the convict will lead her and their three children to starve, the judge added. The couple had eloped back in 2006 when the girl’s father arranged her wedding against her wishes.

The girl’s parents had lodged an FIR against the man and accused him of kidnapping their daughter.

The court noted that the convict was “in a fix” and either he had to lose his beloved and be a mute spectator while she was being given in marriage to somebody else or to forget everything else and run away with his beloved even though she was not yet 15 years old.