A man has been held guilty of raping and impregnating a minor girl by a Delhi court which rejected his contention that they were married, saying it was invalid as he already had a wife and children.
Additional Sessions Judge Rajneesh Kumar Gupta, while convicting the man, a native of Bihar, also rejected his contention about the girl’s consent in establishing physical relations, saying it was “immaterial” as she was below 16 years of age.
“Even for the sake of arguments, if it is presumed that the girl had married the accused (man), then also this marriage is not valid as he was already having wife and three children, which is evident from the victim’s testimony,” the judge said.
The court also noted that the girl had taken contradictory stands during the trial, by saying, that she went with the man willingly without any threat or force, but later retracted her statement in the court and said that he had forcibly taken her.
“The consent of the victim as to sexual intercourse with the accused is immaterial as she is below of 16 years of age,” it said, while convicting the man for offences of kidnapping and raping under the IPC.
According to the prosecution, on December 23, 2011, girl’s father lodged a missing report about her as she was untraceable since December 8, 2011 and he told the police that he suspected the man who might have enticed her before kidnapping.
The girl was found on February 3, 2012 from Samastipur, Bihar, and after medical examination, she was found to be pregnant, it said, adding that the man was arrested ten days later.
