Mumbai: The special POCSO court on Monday sentenced a 27-year-old man to 10 years imprisonment for eloping with a 14-year-old girl and sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions. The court rejected his defence that the relationship between them was consensual, observing that the girl was not of the age to give consent.
As per the case registered with VB Nagar police station by the victim's mother, on March 10, 2019, the girl left the house on the pretext of going to the washroom. However, even after a long time, she did not return. Hence, the family reported it to the police. The girl and the accused, who resided in their locality were tracked in at a native place of the accused and were brought to Mumbai on May 14, 2019.
Accused kept the victim at relative's house for 8 days
The girl in her statement claimed that she had been in touch with the accused for the last few months. On the day she left the house, the accused took her in an auto rickshaw first to his relative’s house and kept her there for around 8 days. She claimed that there the two had intimate relations. Later the accused took her to his native place in Uttar Pradesh.
However, since the father of the accused refused to give them shelter, the two started staying in a garden nearby. The girl said during this period, the two had physical relations several times. The two were finally traced and brought back to Mumbai.
Victim forced to have tablets; sexually assaulted by men
However, the victim in her statement given before the magistrate had claimed that on March 10, when she left the house, the accused asked her to get something from his hut. However, when she went there, along with the accused, two more men came and held her from behind. The girl said they gagged her mouth and forced her to have some tablets after which she lost her senses and only remembered that three persons had sexually assaulted her. Thereafter they made her sit in an auto rickshaw and took her somewhere.
The defence had claimed that the facts statement by the victim was an exaggeration. The accused in his defence claimed that the relationship between the two was consensual and the girl joined his company on her own out of her own will. Besides, he claimed that the girl's mother knew about their relationship.
The court noted that even if the facts stated by the victim in her statement are considered as exaggeration, it cannot be said that he did not commit any act with her. Also, the court said the evidence of the girl is consistent with the facts on record and is also supported by the medical evidence.
The court while rejecting the defence of the accused observed that "From the said admissions, it can be said that victim may have voluntarily joined the company of accused but when as per provision of law, she is minor and unable to give consent for any of the act, then just for voluntarily joining the company by the victim, the accused cannot take disadvantage and cannot commit the act which is prohibited by law."
