Consensual physical relationship with minor girl not excusable offence: Calcutta HC

Kolkata, Dec 11 A division bench of the Calcutta High Court has observed that even a consensual physical relationship with a minor girl is not an excusable offence.

The division bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta made this observation while pronouncing a verdict in a case where the division bench had upheld an earlier order by a lower court pronouncing life imprisonment for the accused.

The order by the Calcutta High Court’s division bench upholding the lower court order was pronounced on Wednesday, and the copy of the order was uploaded on Thursday morning.

A case was heard in the lower court where the accused was charged under Section 64 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused was sentenced to life imprisonment. Later, the accused challenged the sentence in the division bench of the high court.

It is known that the accused had a love affair with a minor in 2014. In November 2016, he had physical relations with her. The minor was only 14 at that time. After that, the accused continued to have physical relations with the minor, with the promise of marriage and despite the minor having reservations about being intimate with him.

The matter came to light after the victim became pregnant in 2017. The accused and his family refused to take responsibility for the minor and her unborn child. After that, an FIR was filed against the accused at Narkeldanga police station in north Kolkata.

The court said that it cannot rule out the fact that the accused is not the father of the victim's child. Multiple scientific evidence, including the victim's statement and DNA reports, clarified that the accused had physical relations with the victim multiple times.

Referring to the Supreme Court's verdict in this regard, it is said that if the statement of the minor is credible, then no other evidence is needed in a case like this. The defendant's lawyer claimed that the age of the victim was not clearly proven. The court reiterated that the birth certificate was shown to prove her age, and at the same time, the accused did not raise any objection to the age of the minor during the trial process.

On the question of why the FIR was filed late, the court said the minor had believed in the promise of marriage. She told her parents when she found out that she was pregnant.

After hearing the arguments of both sides, the high court upheld the judgment of the lower court. The Calcutta High Court also asked the State Legal Service Authority to pay Rs 1,80,000 within 15 days, and the accused has been asked to pay another Rs 2 lakh compensation to the victim. If the accused is out on bail, he has been ordered to surrender immediately and sentenced to life.

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