Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul), a single-judge, has stated that the accused and survivor getting married to other individuals would not reduce the offence under the POCSO Act.
The judge refused the request of Bhuban Basak, who was seeking to dismiss the rape charges against him under IPC and relevant provisions of the POCSO Act.
The prosecution’s case claimed that in January 2016, when the accused was 22 years old, he had a brief “love affair” with a 14-year-old victim and took her to various places. On the day of the incident, when the victim was alone in her home, the accused broke in and raped her. When she screamed, he applied sindoor to her head, and convinced her that they were now married before fleeing from the scene.
The accused in a POCSO case had filed a plea to quash the case against him, citing that both he and the survivor were married to other persons and living happily. However, Justice Shampa Dutt rejected the plea, stating that the fact that they are married to other persons does not lessen the offence alleged against the accused, considering the evidence on record.
The prosecution had alleged that the accused had a brief ‘love affair’ with the survivor when she was only 14 years old and had forcibly raped her, applying vermilion on her head and making her believe they were married.
The survivor reported the incident to her parents, who then lodged an FIR against the accused. The Court found the medical reports and statements of the survivor to be sufficient evidence for the case to proceed towards trial and dismissed the plea to quash the case.
Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/pocso-survivor-accused-marrying-other-persons-and-living-happily-not-ground-to-quash-fir-calcutta-high-court
