The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed a man from Ramanathapuram district to pay a compensation of ₹5 lakh to his child born out of wedlock.
He maintained a relationship with a woman for over a year and the man had promised to marry her. But after she got pregnant, he refused to marry her. The woman lodged a complaint and a case was booked against him.
In 2015, the trial court in Ramanathapuram sentenced and convicted the man to undergo 10-year rigorous imprisonment for sexual assault and one-year imprisonment for cheating the woman. The man, M. Malaisamy, preferred an appeal against the verdict.
Justice R. Pongiappan observed that it was a consensual relationship. The accused need not be convicted for sexual assault. But his act definitely came within the purview of cheating as he never intended to marry her. He is liable to be convicted for cheating. The DNA test and evidence given by experts confirmed that he was the biological father.
The real victim was the child born out of wedlock. So the child must be compensated, the judge said and directed the man to deposit ₹5 lakh as compensation to the child. The woman was allowed to withdraw the interest accrued once in three months from the bank to utilise the money for the child’s welfare.
