Allahabad HC rejects bail plea of rape accused

Opposing the bail plea the public prosecutor said as per her school certificate that the girl was 17 years old on the day of the incident and hence was a minor.

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court rejected the bail plea of a rape accused who sought relief claiming that he married and had a physical relationship with a minor with her consent. The High Court on Wednesday said that the consent of the minor in terms of physical relation bears no importance in such a case and refused to grant bail to the accused considering his action as rape.

Justice Sudharani Thakur rejected the bail plea of the accused Praveen Kashyap of Aligarh. A case was registered against the accused under the POCSO Act along with charges of kidnapping and rape in the Lodha police station of Aligarh.

During the hearing the counsel for the accused had argued that the girl has said in her statement before the police and the court that she left her house with the accused of her own free will and married him. The counsel further argued that there had been physical relations between the minor and the accused with mutual consent from both sides and both had been living together like husband and wife.

Opposing the bail plea the public prosecutor said as per her school certificate that the girl was 17 years old on the day of the incident and hence was a minor.