22-year-old man, who charged under POCSO, granted bail by Mumbai court

A 22-year-old man who was accused of violating the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act has been granted bail by a Mumbai court. He was accused of committing the alleged crime of refusing to marry a young girl, which led to the filing of a case accusing him of kidnapping and rape.

This 22-year-old Mumbai resident was accused of planning to mislead and kidnap a young girl. The accused asked the girl to travel with him to Pune in December 2020 so they could get married there.

The two travelled to his village where they spent 15 days with the accused’s parents. After that, the young woman returned to live with her parents. Later on though, the young woman moved in with the accused in Ghatkopar after leaving her parents. The accused previously held a labourer job.

The accused admitted he had no plans to wed her after being questioned about it. The girl then complained about the accused to the police.

The accused was represented by lawyer Sana Khan, who argued that the relationship between the accused and the young girl was consensual. There was no missing person report filed while the girl was living with him or his family.

The accused claims that although he was prepared to wed the woman, she insisted on their separation after their wedding.

The families were informed about the relationship, and it was noted in the FIR that the victim had been living with him for a year. After he refused to marry her, the FIR was filed on June 16, 2022.

The accused blamed responsibility for forcing him to live apart from his family to the minor. She allegedly behaved badly around his parents, though.

PP Bankar, a special judge, rendered a decision, ‘It appears that the relations between the accused and the victim were consensual and family members of both knew about it. At present, the prosecution has filed a charge­sheet in the court. So, the investigation is completed. Considerable time will be required to dispose of the matter on merit. Looking at the nature of allegations and that the accused do not have criminal antecedents, according to me, it is a fit case to release the accused on bail.’