The Delhi High Court, Image credit: PTI
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court observed that a rape survivor, a student of class 12, cannot be presumed a minor without any valid document on record. The court said that it would be preposterous to assume the victim is a minor in the case, PTI reported.
The court of Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar was hearing a petition that requested the quashing of a rape case on the basis of a compromise between the parties. The court asked the prosecutor representing the state how Section 6 of the POCSO Act has been invoked in the matter.
The prosecutor responded that the survivor was in 12th standard at the time of the incident, and therefore she must be a minor, and Section 6 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been invoked.
The court called the prosecutor's submission "highly preposterous". It said, "Without any document on record, how can one presuppose that victim is a minor, even a major girl can be in 12th standard."
After that, the prosecutor sought time to file a status report in court. The court issued notice on the petition and posted the matter to March 7 for further hearing.
Section 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act entails a minimum punishment of 20 years which may extend to life imprisonment or the death penalty.
In the case in question, the FIR was lodged at Sultanpuri Police Station in New Delhi. The case accused a man of raping and criminally intimidating a girl in 2022.
The plea sought quashing of the FIR on the ground that the matter has been settled between the parties and the man and the girl are living happily together after getting married in November 2022.