Bombay High Court upholds rape conviction as victim was minor

Source – dnaindia.com

The Bombay High court on Monday upheld the conviction of a man charged under various Sections of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) for raping a minor girl.

Justice AM Badar, while upholding the sentence of seven years given to Mohammed Azad Khan, rejected his argument that he and the victim had a consensual relationship.

As per the prosecution, Khan worked in a private firm in Govandi and the victim lived nearby. The accused regularly met the victim and on December 15, 2012, left together, visiting several places over the next few days. It is alleged that the accused had sexual intercourse with the victim during their stay at different locations where they stayed. The Shivaji Nagar Police, acting on a missing persons complaint lodged by the father of the minor, had traced the two in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, and brought them back to Mumbai.

Khan argued in court that the evidence provided by the Investigating Officer (IO) and the victim’s statement proved that they were in love and the minor girl had joined the company of the accused with consent. Further, the prosecution had failed to prove the age of the accused to show that she was a minor. However, the prosecution opposed the plea, relying on the birth certificate of the victim, which showed she was below 18 years at the time of the offence.

The court, after going through the records held, “The prosecution has proved beyond all reasonable doubts that the accused had committed penetrative sexual assault on the victim. However, the prosecutrix at the relevant time was a minor as defined by Section 2 (b) of the POCSO Act, she being below 18 years of age. Thus, no infirmity can be found in conviction.”