Nagpur, Jan 14 (IANS): The Bombay High Court has granted bail to a 26-year-old man charged with raping a 13-year-old girl, holding that the sexual relationship between them was out of "love, attraction and not lust".

The accused, hailing from Amravati, was booked and jailed for raping the minor girl three years ago, and the court said that she stayed with the man at several places without complaining of any sexual assault.

Noting that the girl was a minor and her consent was not relevant, Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke said that she had given her statement to the Investigation Officer which showed that she left home on August 23, 2020, on the excuse of buying a book, went missing and had joined the accused voluntarily, and also admitted her love for him.

Justice Joshi-Phalke, of the court's Nagpur Bench, said that it was apparent she was in the company of the accused petitioner, and both were mutually in love.

The accused was nabbed by personnel of the Anjangaon police station in Amravati on August 30, 2020, the charge sheet was filed on October 26, 2020, but there was no progress in the trial. Later, he applied for bail, which has been granted, after the court said that "no purpose would be served by keeping him behind bars".

The complaint was lodged by the minor girl’s father, who said that after she went missing, they tried to trace her after which they approached the Anjangaon police, who tracked her with the accused in Bengaluru and nabbed him.