Keywords: Delhi High Court, Rape, POSCO Act, Muslim Law
The Delhi High Court upheld the acquittal of a Muslim man on the grounds that the girl was his wife and had engaged in sexual intercourse only after getting married.
The court observed that as per Muslim personal law, the relationship of the accused with the victim cannot be termed as rape, a Muslim girl over the age of 15 is competent to enter a contract of marriage with the person of her choice, and sex with such a girl is not considered to be an offence.
The court also agreed with the Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) that no violation of Section 6 read with Section 5(1) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) was established because she married the respondent in December 2014 and only after that they have a physical relationship.
The accused man had been acquitted of the offence punishable under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by a judgement issued on November 15, 2016 against which an appeal was filed by the State.
The victim claimed that the accused was the husband of her elder sister, and that in December 2014, when she, her mother, the accused, and his wife had travelled there to a native place to attend her cousin sister’s wedding in Bihar. She married the accused after attending the marriage ceremony, which her parents were unaware of, and they all returned to Delhi, where they had physical relations on several occasions.
The application was dismissed after the court determined there was no justification for granting leave to appeal.
Written by- Apoorva Chandra, College name – Aligarh Muslim University Centre, Malappuram, Semester- 3rd an intern under Legal Vidhiya
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