Amitha Muraleedharan
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has granted bail to a man accused of raping a minor girl. The bail was granted on the ground of the minor’s consent to sexual intercourse.
The Court had observed that the evidence did not justify the further incarceration of the accused.
The accused said that the two were in love, and the minor’s family forced her to file a false complaint.
The Court also noted that the victim had informed the police that she knew the accused months before, and they both were in touch through Facebook and phone.
The counsel of the petitioner said that incarceration before the guilt is proven would be a grave injustice to the accused.
The court, considered all the facts and said:
“The conduct of the victim clearly points out that she had initially gone with the petitioner up to Primary School and after having coitus with him did not reveal the fact to anyone and despite that after two-three weeks of her own voluntarily accompanied him.”
“Although, she could not have consented for sexual intercourse as well as leaving custody of her custodian but for deciding the bail, her conduct is sufficient to grant bail to the petitioner,”