In August 2, in Rama @ Bande Rama v. State of Karnataka, the Karnataka High Court quashed criminal proceedings of rape and kidnapping under the Indian Penal Code, and penetrative and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, which had been initiated based on a complaint of a 17-year-old girl’s father against her 20-year-old partner. The girl stated in court that the acts were consensual and she had married the accused after she had turned 18. The marriage was registered and a child was born to the couple. The High Court observed that “if the court would shut its doors to the couple who are married and bringing up the child, the entire proceedings would result in miscarriage of justice.”
Normalcy of relationships
With the enactment of POCSO, a number of young couples in consensual and non-exploitative relationships have found themselves embroiled in the criminal justice system. Since consent of a “child” is immaterial, consensual sexual intercourse with or among adolescents is treated on a par with rape. While boys/young men are charged with sexual offences, the girls are treated as victims and institutionalised in children’s homes when they refuse to return to their parents or their parents refuse to accept them. Faced with criminal prosecution and incarceration, the only relief available to the couple is to urge the High Court to quash the case by using its inherent power under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, “to prevent abuse of the process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice.”
