High Court grants bail to youth in case of kidnapping, raping minor love

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has granted bail to a young man accused of raping a girl with whom he was having a “love affair”, while taking note of the “misapplication” of law in cases involving boys who are in love with girls on the cusp of adulthood. The court said this resulted in young boys languishing in jails on account of cases filed at the behest of girls’ families objecting to their romantic relationship.

Justice Subramonium Prasad made the observations while dealing with a case in which the victim was 16 years old at the relevant time and the petitioner accused, an adult, was facing allegations of kidnapping and raping the girl. The high court said consensual sex between girls who are just below the age of 18 years and boys who are just above 20 years is in a “legal grey area” because the consent given by a minor girl is not a valid consent in the eyes of law.

“This court has been constantly seeing that Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) cases are being filed at the behest of the girl’s family who object to her friendship and romantic involvement with a young boy and the law is being misapplied in such cases which results in young boys, who have genuinely fallen in love with young adolescent girls, languishing in jails,” the judge said.