The special court for POCSO cases of the district has sentenced the accused Rahul Bijarania to 10 years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 75,000 for kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old minor.

 

The bench orally said that even if the accused married the victim when she was an adult, it would not adversely affect the case, as the victim was a minor at the time of the incident. The consent of the minor is of no importance in law. If the victim marries her when she is a major, the accused cannot be acquitted in relation to the incident which happened when she was a minor. During the hearing, the victim appeared in court along with her child. he told the court

 

That she is living happily married to the accused and has also given birth to a child. In such a situation, leniency should be adopted towards the accused. But the court did not accept his argument.

 

Special Public Prosecutor Vijay Pareek said that on September 23, 2020, the brother of the 17-year-old victim lodged a report at the Jobner police station. It said that his uncle's daughter had left the house on September 18 without informing him. On the report, the police arrested the accused and submitted Charge-sheet against him in court. Police investigation revealed that the accused had taken her along with him to Maharashtra and had physical relations with her several times. The victim said that she had gone with him of her own free will and had a relationship of her own free will. After hearing the arguments of both parties, the court sentenced the accused to imprisonment and a fine.