Sexual relationship was out of love not lust: Bombay High Court allows bail to man booked for raping minor

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court recently granted bail to a man booked for raping a minor girl, after observing that the alleged sexual relationship between the two appeared to be out of a love affair and not due to lust [Nitin Damodar Dhaberao vs State of Maharashtra]. .Single-judge Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke noted that though the girl in the instant case was a minor, she left her parents' house on her own, according to a statement given to the police. In her police statement, the minor was also said to have admitted her "love relationship" to the accused person. The Court further took into account the fact that she stayed along with the applicant (accused) at various places and did not raise any grievance that she was forcefully taken away.Thus, it was apparent that out of a love affair, she joined the company of the applicant, who is also of a tender age (26 years) and out of such a love affair they came together, the bench opined.."The applicant is also of a tender age of 26 years and out of love affair they come together. It seems that, the alleged incident of sexual relationship is out of the attraction between the two young persons and it is not the case that applicant has subjected the victim for a sexual assault out of lust," the Court said. .As per the prosecution's case, the applicant lived in the neighborhood of the minor girl, who was 13-year-old at the time of incident. On August 23, 2020, the girl left her house on the pretext of bringing a book from her classmate. However, she did not return home after that. Her family looked for her in the vicinity and when she could not be traced, a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged with the Anjangaon Surji Police Station in Amravati district. Investigations revealed that the girl had left her house and was with the applicant. The duo was traced in Bangalore and on their return, the applicant was arrested on August 30, 2020 and had been in custody since then. The criminal case filed against him cited the offences of rape under the Indian Penal Code and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act)..The applicant contended before the High Court that the girl had left her house out of her own accord and that there was no forceful sexual act. On the other hand, the State had contested that the case is a heinous one and that since the girl is a minor, her consent to the sexual relationship, was invalid. Thus no leniency should be shown to the accused applicant, the State contended..The Court took into account the facts of the case and also considered the fact that there was no progress in the trial although the chargesheet in the case was filed in 2020."The trial will take its own time for the final disposal. In view of the same, further incarceration the applicant is not required and no purpose will be served by keeping him behind the bars," the bench said while granting him bail subject to certain conditions. .Advocate SS Jadhav appeared for the applicant.Assistant Public Prosecutor AR Chutke represented the State.Advocate Deepali P Shahare was appointed to represent the minor girl. .[Read Order]