Thane Court Acquits Man in Alleged Minor Rape Case Due to Consensual Relationship and Insufficient Age Evidence

The court observed that the relationship between the accused and victim appeared to be "more or less consensual in nature."

A Thane court has acquitted a 22-year-old man accused of raping a minor girl, citing insufficient evidence to establish the victim's age and noting that their relationship seemed consensual in character.

Special judge for POCSO Act cases, Ruby U Malvankar, delivered the judgment on November 13, concluding that the prosecution had failed to prove allegations against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

The case originated in the Bhayander area of Maharashtra's Thane district, where both the accused and victim resided. The man was arrested on May 19, 2020, after the victim's mother filed an FIR alleging harassment, abusive calls, and threats made by him.

Following charges under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the accused was granted bail on August 20, 2020.

In her statement, the victim later claimed they had developed romantic feelings for each other and were involved in a "deep relationship."

The court emphasized that age determination is crucial in POCSO Act cases, stating, "As per Section 2(d), POCSO Act, a 'child' is a person below the age of 18 years. Hence, it is the primary onus on the prosecution to prove that the victim is a child."

While the victim's birth date was allegedly June 24, 2003, and her mother claimed to have submitted a photocopy of the birth certificate, the court noted that the original document was never produced during the trial.

The judgment stated, "Throughout the trial, the original birth certificate reflecting the date of birth of the victim was not produced on record. Resultantly, therefore, there is no evidence on record to conclusively arrive at any legitimate inference in respect of her precise date of birth."

"Therefore, in the absence of any such evidence, the prosecution has failed to prove that the victim was a 'child' below 18 years of age at the relevant time when the incident allegedly took place."

The judge further highlighted several key admissions made by the victim, noting that "her relations with the accused were mostly voluntary, consensual, and of her own free will. She also admitted that if her mother would not have approached the police station, the victim herself would have never gone to the police."

The court also observed that "she wanted to marry the accused, and she wanted to have their love affair end in their marriage, and for that purpose, even the relatives from both sides had met each other."

Determining that the relationship between the accused and the victim was "more or less consensual in nature," the court concluded that "The elements of the offences do not get established against the accused and hence, the answers to all the points are required to be recorded in the negative, and the accused deserves to be acquitted."