‘Befriending girl doesn't give right to sex with her'
Delhi High Court
stated on Thursday. It dismissed the bail plea of a man accused of sexually assaulting a minor.
The court underlined that mere friendship doesn't eliminate the need for consent.
Justice Girish Kathpalia rejected the man's claim of having consensual relations with the girl, pointing out that even consent could not be legal as the girl was a minor at the time. "Merely because a girl befriends a boy, the latter cannot be given liberty to indulge in sexual intercourse with her without her consent. Further, even the consent would not be lawful in the present case because the prosecutrix was minor in age," the court observed in its order.
It highlighted the girl's specific allegations in the FIR and her testimony about the man's repeated sexual assaults despite her protestations. "I am unable to find it a case of consensual relations merely because in the FIR the prosecutrix stated that the accused/applicant with his sweet talk befriended her," it said, adding that for these reasons, the case is "not a fit case to grant bail to the accused."
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The prosecution alleged that in April 2023, the man, working as a construction labourer in NDMC apartments in Vikaspuri, befriended the minor and subsequently raped her.
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According to the complaint, the girl was threatened not to confide in anyone, and the man continued to rape her until Nov 2023. The accused was subsequently booked last year for rape, stalking, criminal intimidation, and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
In his defence, the accused maintained that the girl was a major at the time of the incident and he had consensual sex with her, while claiming several inconsistencies in her testimony.
Rejecting the plea, the court said a single handpicked line from the testimony of the girl's mother cannot be read in isolation from the remaining material on record. The court considered her educational records establishing her age as a minor and said it couldn't minutely examine evidence in a bail application, leaving the issue of juvenility to be raised in trial.
Recently, the Centre told Supreme Court that the age of consent for sex cannot be lowered from 18 years, as it is meant to protect minors. Loosening age-based protections could open avenues for abuse (rape) under the guise of consensual activity, it stated.
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