Allahabad High Court Grants Conditional Bail To Rape Accused

Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court granted bail to a man accused of rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act on the condition that he marries the victim and accept her kid (who was born as a result of the alleged rape) as his daughter.

The accused, who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Khiri district, was charged under Sections 363, 366, and 376 of the IPC as well as under POCSO Act Sections 3/4.

An FIR was lodged with the police regarding the same alleging that the girl was lured by the accused in March 2022 when she was 17 years old.

According to the bail ruling, the victim and her father had no objections if the accused was granted bail as long as he married the victim in accordance with Hindu rites and rituals and had the marriage officially recognised. Additionally, they insisted that the accused cede all of the rights to the girl and the one-year-old kid as his wife and daughter. The order further states that, the accused must wed the victim within 15 days of being released from custody and register their union with the proper official within one month of the wedding.

The accused’s advocate insisted that his client was prepared and eager to wed the young woman. He continued by saying that because they were in love, the two had eloped to get married.

“Considering the fact that the minor victim has already delivered a child from the accused who has been in jail since April this year and the victim and her father too had not opposed his release, without expressing any opinion on the merit of the case, I find it to be a fit case for granting bail,” the judge opined while delivering the verdict.