A man accused of raping a minor girl was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday after he promised to marry the victim girl and take care of her newborn baby.
The man was accused of raping the teenager on the pretext of marriage and impregnating her, reported PTI.
While passing the order, Justice Krishan Pahal made the accused promise to marry the minor girl and take care of the child and also directed the accused to pay ₹2 lakh for a fixed deposit to be opened in the name of the baby.
Imposing the condition on the accused, the court said in its order, “The applicant shall deposit a sum of ₹2,00,000 in the name of the newborn baby of the victim till her attaining the age of majority within six months from the date of release from jail.”
According to the prosecution, the man deceived the girl, who is 15 years old and established physical relations with her with the promise of marriage.
The victim later became pregnant and the accused allegedly refused to fulfil his promise of marriage and even threatened her. Subsequently, a rape case was registered against him under the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act at Chilkana police station of Saharanpur district.
However, the counsel appearing for the accused claimed that the girl is not a minor, and is 18 years old. Besides, in her statement before the magistrate under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code, the survivor stated that no force was applied to her, the counsel said.
During the hearing, the bench was informed that the accused was willing to take responsibility for the survivor and marry her. He is also prepared to take care of the baby girl born to the accused and the survivor, the counsel assured the court.