“Consent from minor is not consent”: court denies bail for man in rape case

New Delhi:

Consent of a minor is not consent in the eyes of the law, Delhi High Court noted as it denied bail to a man accused of raping a 16-year-old girl and also changing her date of birth on her Aadhaar -Map.

The high court also said the man’s behavior to have the girl’s date of birth on the Aadhaar card changed was a “serious offence”.

“It appears that the applicant (male) wanted to take advantage by changing the date of birth on the Aadhaar card so that when the applicant entered into a physical relationship with the accuser, she was not a minor.

“The consent of the minor at the age of 16, especially when the applicant was 23 years old and already married, also does not entitle him to bail. The consent of a minor is not consent in the eyes of the law,” Justice Jasmeet Singh said in a recent order.

In 2019, an FIR was filed following the girl’s father’s complaint that his daughter was missing. Later, the girl was tracked down and rescued from Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh and brought back.

The girl, who was found with the man, said in her statement to a magistrate that he was her boyfriend and that she had been staying with him for about a month and a half.

She went on to say that the man entered into physical relations with her consent and that she wanted to stay with him.

The man requested bail on the grounds that he had been in custody since 2019 and charges had been filed.

The judge said: “In the present case, I believe that the girl was only 16 years old on the date of the incident. The applicant was 23 years old and was already married. It is stated by … counsel representing the complainant (girl) that she had been in contact with the complainant and the complainant informed her that it was the applicant who took her to the office of the SDM (Divisional Magistrate) and had her date of birth changed in the Aadhaar card from the year 2002 to March 5, 2000 only to prove that she was not a minor on the date of entering into the physical relationship.”

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