India
The girl, who was just above 16 years, appeared before the court and expressed her desire to marry the accused, which prompted the court to acquit the boy of the serious charge of rape.
Updated : Apr 18, 2010, 11:44 AM IST
An affair involving minors ended on a happy note with a Delhi court intervening to help them marry each other though the father of the girl had registered an FIR against the teenaged boy, who was charged with rape.
The girl, who was just above 16 years, appeared before the court and expressed her desire to marry the accused, which prompted the court to acquit the boy of the serious charge of rape.
Ravi, who was in jail since June last year after his arrest, heaved a sigh of relief as additional sessions judge Kamini Lau sentenced him to the period which he had already served during judicial custody, for the offence of kidnapping.
"He is a young boy of 19 years of age and has voluntarily pleaded guilty of the offence under Section 363 of Indian Penal Code. He was a student of 12th class at the time of incident and has a family comprising father, mother, two brothers and one married sister," the court said, taking a lenient view in the case.
The girl's family was hesitant due to caste differences but were suitably advised and counselled by the court.
They agreed to the alliance and her father promised to marry her with the convict once she becomes a major.
"Such litigation serves no purpose. The interest of justice requires a positive intervention of the court to bring such categories of litigations to an end which are otherwise an additional burden on the already choked criminal delivery system," ASJ Lau said.
The girl and the boy had eloped on January 31 last year and stayed as husband and wife at different places.
During this period, the girl, who continued to maintain telephonic contact with her family, returned to her house at Ashok Vihar here after her father assured that he would marry her with the boy.
To her surprise, she found that a case had been registered against Ravi. The girl, thereafter, under the pressure of her family made statements to the police and a magistrate implicating the boy.
During the trial, when her statement was recorded in the chamber by ASJ Lau, she broke down and confessed her love for the convict and expressed her desire to marry him.