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In a very surprising judgment , the Kerela High Curt quashed the criminal charges against a person accused of rape when he marries the victim. The individual was charged under the provisions of the Sec.366A, 376 and Sec.3(a) r/w 4 of the POCSO Act. The accused claimed that the disputes were dissolved amicably between the victim and himself, whom he had married. He also stated that they have a daughter aged four months. The victim supported the claim as otherwise it would put her marital life and the care and welfare of her child at risk.
It was observed by Justice Alexander Thomas, that grave and serious offences cannot be the subject matter of quashment of the criminal proceedings on the ground that it has been settled by the parties. Keeping in mind the judgment of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V, that if the accused marries the victim and the settlement of dispute is for the welfare of the victim, under Section Sec.482 of the Cr.P.C. it, could quash the criminal proceedings on the ground of settlement between the parties. The Court observed that if the criminal proceedings are not quashed in the present case, it will be detrimental for the family of the victim.
In this case, the accused induced the victim to have sexual intercourse with him on the word that he would marry her. The crime was registered when the girl apprehended that the accused would not marry her. During pendency of trial, the marriage took place. Subsequently both the parties went to, went to the Court for the quashing of the charges. In a Supreme Court judgment it was observed that compromise in rape cases cannot be thought about. There can be instances where the girl has been coerced into the marriage. In this very year, there have been more than ten cases in which the criminal charges were dropped as the accused and the victim got married.Such cases came before the Kerela High Court, Punjab and Haryana High Court and even the Gauhati High Court. In another case, the Calcutta High Court had reduced the sentence awarded to a rape accused to 'the period already undergone' taking into consideration the fact that the victim and the accused are married and have settled in life with their children. It has been observed that for special reasons, a lesser sentence can be imposed.
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