HC strikes down Pocso case with consent of survivor
The Bombay high court (HC) last week struck down an offence registered under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, against a 25-year-old Thane resident, with the consent of the survivor. The man was accused of rape and criminal intimidation of a 17-year-old girl in 2017.
“We are satisfied that nothing fruitful will come of the prosecution,” said the division bench of justice BP Dharmadhikari and justice Nitin Borkar.
The bench also imposed a cost of ₹1 lakh on the 25-year-old engineer and directed him to deposit the amount with the Police Welfare Fund, as “public time and money had been spent in investigating the case”.
The case was based on a complaint filed by a 19-year-old woman with the Vartak Nagar police station in April 2019. According to her statement, the accused had sexual relations with her when she was 17 years old.
The woman said she was introduced to the accused in February 2017, following which they entered a relationship and used to go on trips out of Thane. On one such trip, she alleged the accused had sexual relations with her after assuring her that he would marry her. She further alleged that later, not only did he refuse to marry her as she belonged to a scheduled caste, but he also abused and assaulted her.
The Vartak Nagar police booked the petitioner under sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC); sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault) and 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act, and relevant sections of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Advocate Rounak Naik, who argued on behalf of the accused, pointed out that the accused and the complainant were young and had bright futures ahead. Hence, he said, they must get an opportunity to settle the dispute amicably. Naik urged the court to strike down the criminal proceedings, as nothing positive could come of it.
Advocate Akshay Tilve, who appeared for the complainant, submitted that she had consented to the quashing of the criminal proceedings, as she is gainfully employed and her parents were searching for a suitable match for her.
The bench accepted the request and struck down the proceedings subject to payment of the cost amount.