Karnataka HC reverses acquittal in Pocso case; awards 10-year jail term to accused

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has set aside an acquittal under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. 

A division bench of Justices HB Prabhakara Sastry and Umesh M Adiga dismissed as perverse the trial court's finding that there was consensual sex between the minor girl and the accused. 

The bench allowed the appeal filed by Honnali police, Davangere district, and sentenced the accused to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs 25,000. Rs 20,000 of this is payable to the victim. 

The FIR was registered on April 3, 2016, on a complaint by the girl's parents. They alleged that the accused had raped their daughter, who was 15 years old at the time of the crime, on the promise of marriage. After the victim became pregnant, the accused refused to marry her. 

On October 13, 2017, the special court at Davangere acquitted the accused, holding that the victim was major and it was consensual sex. 

The high court government pleader argued that the evidence of the victim was not discarded and since she was a minor at that time, the question of consent didn't arise. It was also stated that the victim had delivered a baby boy who died within two days after birth. 

The division bench noted that the prosecution evidence about the age of the victim revealed that she was a minor. The court also said it cannot be said that the victim had consented to sexual intercourse merely because she did not file a police complaint immediately after the incident.