Rape accused refused custody of ‘victim’

Mumbai: A sessions court in Dindoshi has rejected a rape accused’s application, seeking custody of the alleged victim from a child welfare committee in Uttar Pradesh (UP), contending that he was married to the victim who has now become a major and wishes to marry him.

The court turned down his application saying that the girl was a minor at the time of the alleged marriage and hence, it could not be said that their marriage was legal and since he was not her husband or relative, he could not seek her custody.

Ayub alias Sunil Shaikh (22) had moved an application before the additional sessions Judge H.B. Gaikwad, seeking direction to the child welfare committee (Bal and Balika Sudhargrih Nidhariya, Baliya, UP) to release the victim and give him her custody.

The Malwani police arrested Shaikh for kidnapping and raping the girl. Shaikh contended that they were having a love affair and that the girl had left her parent’s house by her own wish and gotten married to the accused on July 15, 2016. However, the girl’s family was against this relationship because the girl was a minor and belonged to a different religion. Initially, the girl was kept at the child and welfare home, Dongri, but later, she was shifted to UP.

“It is prima facie seen that, on the date of the incident and on the alleged date of marriage, the victim was a minor, therefore, at this stage, it cannot be said that the applicant and the victim are legally married,” obs-erved Judge Gaikwad, ad-ding, “The applicant has not shown as to how he is entitled for the custody of the victim, when neither he is the relative nor her husband. Therefore, I do not find any substance in the application.”