BICHU Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner herein has been arrayed as the sole accused in the instant Crime No.540/2019 of Kannanelure Police Station, Kollam, which has been registered for offences punishable under Sec.376(2) of the Indian Penal Code and Secs.3(a), 4, 7 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, 2012, on the basis of the First Information Statement given by the minor victim girl on 06.09.2019 at about 7.20 p.m., in respect of the alleged incidents which happened on 01.09.2019 at about 3 p.m. in the afternoon.

(2.) The prosecution case in short is that the date of birth of the lady victim, who is now aged 18 years is 08.09.2001 (she has completed the majority age of 18 years on 08.09.2019) and that the petitioner/accused aged 28 years was having a love affair with the victim and he assured that he would marry her, who was then a minor girl and on 01.09.2019 when she was still a minor, the petitioner had invited her to come to his office on that day (which happened to be a Sunday) and there he had forceful sexual intercourse with her. That later, the victim came to know that the petitioner is a married man and she felt cheated and she has given the instant complaint to the police by way of First Information Statement, which has led to the registration of the instant crime. The petitioner has been arrested in this case on 07.09.2019 and after his remand, has been under detention since then.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioner would point out that the abovesaid allegations are false and baseless and further that even according to the prosecution case, the victim girl was hardly short of seven days for completing the majority age of 18 years on the day of the alleged incident (01.09.2019) and further that the alleged incidents of sexual intercourse has not taken place and that as he has already suffered detention for the last 41 days, his continued detention may not be necessary and that he would be released on regular bail subject to stringent conditions.