Teenagers these days are usually in a hurry, to both enter a relationship and even to get out of it and they even hurry in maintaining sexual relations, said the Bombay High Court on Thursday, while granting bail to a boy accused of raping his own girlfriend, who was a minor.
A bench of Justice Bharati Dangre was seized with a bail application filed by one Showmik Banerjee (changed name) seeking bail. He was booked in a rape case under the POCSO act.
According to the prosecution case, Showmik and the victim, were college friends and the duo entered in a love relationship. The victim had also informed her mother about the relationship. The couple had sexual intercourse, when the victim visited Showmik's house. However, she did not inform anyone about the alleged rape and reported about the incident only after the couple parted ways.
In her statement to the police, the victim stated that she broke up with Showmik after he started imposing restrictions on her "freedom" and dictating her what to wear, where to go and whom to speak to.
Having considered the facts of the case, Justice Dangre concluded that this is a "typical case of teenagers moving too fast and eager to explore the world hurriedly."
"Adolescence is a period of transition and teenagers have to work through new emotions, thoughts, feelings and aspirations. Every new generation is a pace ahead of the past. Lives of todays teens are saturated by technology, social media which offers quick answers and quick solutions," Justice Dangre said.
"The sheer hurry without maturely understanding each other is typical of adolescence and before the relationship took a concrete shape, the applicant and victim become physical. This caused disappointment and brought sadness," the judge opined.
The bench further said the accused and the victim took a decision to break up just the way it had taken as hurriedly as to enter a relationship.
The court further noted that Showmik had just stepped into majority age and has co-operated with the investigating agency. "Thus, he should no longer be deprived of his liberty and loose his future prospects because of an act which he has indulged in into his adolescence, and with another adolscent victim, belonging to the same age group as his," Justice Dangre held.
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