Assuming the role of a social watchdog, a Delhi court has advocated counselling and parental tabs on teenaged girls in order to protect them from bad influences, while acquitting a youth of the charges of raping a class IX student.
“The pitfalls of teenage need to be reflected in our opening society. Perhaps the need for counselling, parental tab and monitoring of teenaged girls appears to be the requirement of the day as they are susceptible to various influences,” Additional Sessions Judge Anoop Kumar Mendiratta said.
The judge made the remarks while acquitting one Vikas Kumar and his parents Kishan Dev and Kaushalya, who were accused under various provisions of the IPC including that of wrongful confinement and kidnapping.
The court noted that the alleged victim absolved the accused in her testimony as she had been blessed with a child. Her father also did not support the case out of affection for her and in order to save the remnants of her married life with the accused, it added.
According to the complaint, the girl initially submitted to circumstances of sexual assault on September 9, 2005 and revealed the incident to her parents after two months. “The complaint was projected to be that of rape even for a sexual relationship which was established at the house of the accused wherein she resided of her own free will,” the court said. “The acquittal may be the only consequence in law, considering the fact that the victim herself turned hostile and even her father did not support the case of prosecution. The arm of law was finally used to report the offence only after much water had flown and the girl realised that she had been taken for a ride and ultimately deserted midway without any shoulder to rest upon,” the court said.
The girl, in her testimony, said she was 18 years of age at the time of incident and had lodged complaint with the police due to differences with accused Vikas. A complaint was registered against the accused with Uttam Nagar police station in west Delhi on August 20, 2006, alleging Vikas had committed sexual assault with her. The parents of Vikas allegedly married off the girl to him. She was allegedly ill-treated and later deserted by them.