Delhi High Court grants bail to rape accused after noting that survivor was living happily with him

A man held on charges of raping a minor has been granted bail by the Delhi High Court, which took a prima facie view that the accused and the survivor had been living together “happily” and that his retention in custody would only drive their children to starvation..Justice Subramonium Prasad noted that the petitioner married the survivor with the family’s blessings.“The victim’s statements which were recorded before the Magistrate indicate that she has been peacefully living with the petitioner and their two children. She has also stated that she was not kidnapped by him and she ran away on her own accord,” the bail order observed..The Court was, therefore, “prima facie satisfied” that the petitioner and the survivor “were happily cohabiting with each other and raising their family.”“Keeping the petitioner in custody will drive the prosecutrix and her two children to starvation. It will not be in the interest of the children to keep the petitioner in custody. There is no danger of petitioner fleeing from justice,” it noted..The man was booked under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage, etc) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code besides Sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault) and 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) read with Section 10 (child marriage) of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.The family of the survivor had lodged a missing persons complaint with the police on May 13, 2017, following which she is stated to have called her mother in 2020 informing her that she had been married..Although she was brought back from the place she was found to be living with the petitioner, her statement before a magistrate court in Delhi showed that she had run away from her parents and married.The man’s counsel stressed that there was no necessity for his client to remain behind bars as the survivor had married him on her own will.The public prosecutor, on the contrary, called it a heinous offence, where a minor girl was kidnapped and raped..The Court, however, granted bail, highlighting that the fact that the petitioner and the survivor were happily married and raising a family together was “ground enough” to grant bail.The man was as a result directed to be released on a personal bond of ₹5,000 and report to the police station concerned every fortnight, in addition to other riders..Advocate Mohammed Shamikh appeared for the petitioner meanwhile Advocate Meenakshi Dahiya represented the State.