Thane, Sep 8 A special fast-track court at Kalyan in Thane has sentenced a man to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old girl in 2011.
Additional Sessions Judge P P Muley, in the judgment on Monday, observed that while eloping with the accused, the victim converted to Islam. However, since she was a minor at the time, the conversion could not be considered voluntary, he said.
The victim, hailing from Dombivli in Maharashtra's Thane district, had voluntarily accompanied the accused, Azhar alias Badu Mustaq Qureshi (39), to Lucknow; hence the court acquitted him of kidnapping charges.
The judge, however, observed that purchasing a ticket in a different name demonstrated "pre-planned ill intention on the part of the accused".
The evidence shows it was a pre-planned plot of the accused only to have a "physical relationship with victim," the court said.
It further observed that the victim was a minor when she converted to the Muslim religion and eloped with the accused. "Therefore, participation of the victim in conversion rites cannot be said to be a voluntary act," the court said.
Referring to a Supreme Court judgment, it said a person who engages in sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 18 years is liable to be punished for the offence of rape under IPC Section 376, even if the victim is his wife between 15 and 18 years of age.
Therefore, the accused cannot escape prosecution with the aid of Exception 2 to IPC Section 375 (sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, not being under 15 years of age, is not rape).
The court awarded a set-off for the pre-trial detention period the accused had already served from February 5 to September 12, 2012.
It also recommended the case to the District Legal Services Authority for compensating the victim.
Seven witnesses, including the victim, were examined by the prosecution to prove the charges against the accused, Additional Public Prosecutor Sachin Kulkarni said.
