Mumbai: The special POCSO court has recently acquitted a 29-year-old singer booked after he allegedly eloped with a minor girl who claimed to be his fan, in August 2019. The court while acquitting him observed that the girl was mature enough to understand the consequence of her actions.
As per the prosecution case, the victim girl ran away from the house on August 1, 2019. Her mother registered a case with Dharavi police station and left for her native place with her family. However, since she was not found, they registered a missing case on August 9, 2019.
Based on the complaint, the police began tracing her location and found her at Kausa, Mumbra.
Background of the case
The girl, in her statement, said that she was a fan of the accused and fell in love with him. She admitted that she left home to meet the singer in Pune. The girl further said that after meeting the accused in Pune, they went to Solapur and resided at the residence of grandfather of the singer. Later, they stayed with the maternal uncle of the accused till August 18, 2019. During their stay, the two had sexual intercourse several times. After the statement of the girl, the singer was arrested on August 19, 2019 and was granted bail on October 3, 2019.
In his defence, he had claimed that the victim was a fan of his songs and she wanted to marry him. Moreover, she gave threats to commit suicide if he refuses to marry her. When he informed his family members about the matter, they consented for the marriage after she completing 18 years.
Court found girl mature enough to take responsibility for her actions
After hearing both the sides and testimony of the girl, the court noted, “The victim stated that she on her own will went with the accused and had not resisted any act allegedly committed by the accused.”
The court further said that it is proved that she was minor at the time of incident but is not proved that ingredients of sexual assault on her as the girl said she never alleged that accused committed sexual assault on her forcibly.
The court said, “The girl was having enough maturity so as to understand the consequence of the act which she was indulged in. The girl stated that she does not have any complaint against the accused. It, therefore, seems that the accused is entitled for benefit of doubt."
