A man booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for rape was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court on condition that he will marry the victim and will accept her child (born out of the alleged rape) as daughter.
The man, hailing from Khiri district of Uttar Pradesh, was booked under Sections 363, 366, 376 of the IPC and 3/4 of the POCSO Act. As per the First Information Report, the girl was enticed by the accused in March 2022 when she was 17 years.
In the bail order, the Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh said the victim and her father had no objection if the accused was enlarged on bail, provided that he performed marriage with the victim in accordance with the Hindu rites and rituals and got the marriage registered. They also demanded that the accused should give all rights to the girl and the child as his wife and daughter.
‘They were in love’
The lawyer of the accused maintained that his client was ready and willing to marry the girl. He added that the two had eloped to perform the marriage as they were in love.
“Considering the fact that the minor victim has already delivered of a child from the accused who has been in jail since April this year and the victim and her father too had not opposed his release, without expressing any opinion on the merit of the case, I find it to be a fit case for granting bail,” the judge said. The baby of the victim is one month old.
The judgment states that the accused will marry the victim within 15 days of release and gets the same registered before the appropriate officer within one month from the date of marriage.
