The Madras High Court Bench here has set aside the conviction and 10 years of rigorous imprisonment imposed in a rape case after observing that the victim, a 17-year-old girl, had had consensual sex with the accused and therefore not entitled to press the charge of rape.
Partly allowing a criminal appeal filed by Emarajan of Tirunelveli district, Justice M. Sathyanarayanan confirmed the appellant's conviction under the charge of cheating alone since he did not keep up a promise made by him to the victim as well as her parents to marry her.
However, the judge modified the punishment of rigorous imprisonment for a year, imposed by the trial court under the charge of cheating, and held that it would be enough if he pays a fine of Rs.1 lakh to be deposited in a bank in the name of the male child that was born to the victim and the accused.
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The judge also recorded the submission of Additional Public Prosecutor C. Ramesh as well as defence counsel D. Srinivasaraghavan that the girl had given the child in adoption to a wealthy Muslim couple before marrying another individual and begetting two children through him.
Recalling the history of the case, the judge pointed out that the parents of the victim had reportedly come to know of the relationship between her and the accused, who was their distant relative, only when she was in the advanced stage of pregnancy in 2006.
The victim’s parents initially tried to get her married to the accused. But their efforts did not fructify and hence they chose to lodge a police complaint.
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After a full fledged trial, a Mahila Court in Tirunelveli convicted the accused on charges of rape as well as cheating on November 11, 2011.
Pointing out that the victim had studied up to Class IX besides undergoing a tailoring course and taking up a job in a tailoring shop, Mr. Justice Sathyanarayanan said: “Therefore, it cannot be said that being a grown up girl, she was not aware of the consequences of having a physical relationship with an opposite sex.”