Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Nov 22: The state high court has clarified that in case where a girl is raped, the case continues even after the accused marries the victim of the rape. It refused to permit withdrawal of the case registered against the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

In a case in which the accused was booked under the said act, he had later married the victim of rape. The accused, who is from Basavana Bagewadi in Vijayapura district, had filed a petition seeking to drop the case against him. A single judge bench of the high court presided over by Justice H P Sandesh observed that just because the accused and the affected person entered into a mutual understanding does not entitle them to drop the case. "Cancellation of the case will cast serious repercussions on the society," it observed when dismissing the petition.

The accused had fallen in love with the minor girl and had developed intimacy. After the girl became pregnant, he had abducted her. On the basis of a complaint filed by the family of the girl, the police had arrested him from Kolhapur and registered case against him under the POCSO Act and then filed a charge sheet in the court.

The accused man as well as the victim had filed a petition in the high court seeking to withdraw the case. The accused is in judicial custody and the couple has a child, the advocate for the couple said in his argument and requested the high court to allow them to live together.