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Legal correspondent: Anuradha Patel
28th November 2021: The Delhi High Court has sent a 16-year-old ‘rape survivor’ to a government shelter home and handed the charge of her child to his natural father, who is arrested for the teenager’s family of rape. The court last month granted bail to the accused, a 19-year-old Hindu, after the minor girl, a Muslim, stated that it was a consensual connection and that she had married him out of her own will and that there was no pressure. The police got the minor in April and on medical examination, it was discovered that she was five months pregnant. Justice Mukta Gupta, while deciding the bail petition of the accused, in the order declared on Wednesday, said that the prosecutor is a minor at this stage and she cannot be authorized to live in the company of the accused.
However, the bench also remarked that the 16-year-old wants the child to be delivered over to him and she is willing to live in the government shelter home as she would not like to live with her parents. "The parents of the petitioner are also present who state that they will take sufficient care of the child," the court said in the order. The court further said that the minor girl will remain lodged at the government aid till she accomplishes the age of majority or is subject to any further orders passed by a competent court. The court last month saw that it appears to be a case where the teenager, being fed up with her family atmosphere, found solace in the company of the man, who has been accused of rape by her family.
However, it also saw that consent of the prosecutrix for the relationship is not fit as she is a minor.
Source:
https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/delhi-high-court-grants-statutory-rape-accused-father-custody-of-child-living-with-minor-mother-at-care-home
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