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  Metros   Mumbai  05 May 2019  Bombay HC frees man who eloped with minor

Bombay HC frees man who eloped with minor

THE ASIAN AGE.
Published : May 5, 2019, 5:44 am IST
Updated : May 5, 2019, 5:44 am IST

Girl escaped as her mother wanted her to marry her maternal uncle.

Bombay high court
 Bombay high court

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has suspended seven-year sentence of a man who eloped with a minor and had sexual relation with her. While giving relief to the man, the high court considered that the appeal against his conviction is pending before another bench of the high court.

The prosecution case is that the man who hails from Solapur had allured the girl and eloped with her. The girl was 16 years old at the time of the incident.

According to police, she had a sexual relationship with him and as per law, having intercourse with a minor is illegal, hence, the man was booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Child from Sexual Offences Act.

Solapur sessions court also held him guilty and awarded seven-year imprisonment. The man then challenged his conviction in the high court.

Meanwhile, the man had filed an application seeking to suspend his sentence till a decision has been made on his appeal in the HC.

Justice Sadhana Jadhav was hearing his application. According to the application, the man stated that he was wrongfully implicated in the case.

He said that the girl’s mother was forcing her to get married to the girl’s maternal uncle. The girl had then, approached accused, narrated the whole incident and expressed unwillingness to marry her maternal uncle.

She told him if accused doesn’t help her elope, she will commit suicide. He also admitted that he and girl were in a relationship.

His counsel argued that man had no other intention but wanted to save the girl’s life.

In his arguments, he provided evidence which was given by the girl during the trial. The girl had returned home after her mother assured her that she would not be married off to her maternal uncle. However, after the girl returned home, the man was arrested and tried.

The high court observed that “It was a pathetic saga of a girl who was forced to marry her maternal uncle against her own wish by her own mother. The man, with whom the girl was in a relationship had only helped her to avoid marriage.”

Tags: bombay high court, indian penal code