MADURAI: Observing that consensual sex cannot be a defence in a case registered under the POCSO Act, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court upheld the conviction and life sentence awarded to a man for sexually assaulting and impregnating a 15-year-old girl in Theni in 2015.
A bench of Justices PN Prakash and R Hemalatha passed the order on the appeal filed by Karthik in 2019, challenging the verdict of a Mahila Court in Theni. The prosecution said, the appellant convinced the minor girl, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste, into having a physical relationship with him by promising to marry her.
However, when she informed him that she was pregnant with his child, he abandoned her. Based on a complaint lodged by her parents, the police registered a case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. A DNA test established that the appellant was the father of the child, following which the Mahila Court convicted him in January 2019.
Though Karthik, in his appeal, questioned the victim’s age, the court rejected the contention. It also shot down the defence’s allegation the victim might have voluntarily had physical relationship with the appellant.
“The victim being a minor, the question of her having consensual sex with the appellant cannot be a defence in a prosecution under the POCSO Act,” the court said, while upholding Karthik’s conviction and also refused to reduce his sentence. Since the trial court failed to fix the compensation amount for the victim, the judges directed the State government to pay `5 lakh as compensation to the victim within three months.