BENGALURU: The High Court of Karnataka has granted interim bail to a 23-year-old youth from Mysuru enabling him to marry an 18-year-old girl with a baby born after he sexually assaulted her when she was a minor.
This order has been issued considering the peculiarity of the case as the mother has to bring up the child. The newborn should not suffer ignominy of any kind in future. Therefore, to protect the interests of the child and the mother, this order has been issued, Justice M Nagaprasanna said.
According to the interim order, the youth should be released from prison on June 17 and return by July 3. He should produce the marriage certificate before the court on July 4, when his case will be heard. He should mark his attendance once a week at the jurisdictional police station in Mysuru, the court said.
According to a complaint filed by the victim’s mother, the accused and her daughter, who was studying in a school in Mysuru, were in love. On February 2, 2023, the accused took the girl, who was then a minor, on his bike to an isolated place where he sexually assaulted her.
After a case was registered the next day, the accused was sent to judicial custody. Meanwhile, the girl gave birth to the child. The accused filed a petition for annulment of the proceedings. The counsels of the accused and the girl submitted that they were in love, but their parents were against it.
Therefore, they sought closure of these proceedings, considering the accused’s wish to marry the victim so that she and their child are not left in the lurch. Now, both the families favoured the marriage of the accused and the girl. Therefore, the court should consider the petition, the counsels told the court.
Meanwhile, the DNA report produced before the court stated that the accused and the victim are the biological father and mother of the child.
The judge said the mother has to bring up her child at this tender age. Considering the future of the mother and the child, the court permits the accused to marry the victim, who is now aged above 18.