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"It is the case of Romeo and Juliet, which ended successfully in marriage and the enlargement of the family by the birth of a child," the judge said
In an interesting judgment, the Madras High Court quashed a case against a 21-year-old man accused of kidnapping a teenage girl. Court observed that the situation was akin to a Romeo and Juliet story, which had ultimately resulted in a successful marriage.
The bench of Justice G Jayachandran observed that the girl had voluntarily eloped with the boy, and the couple is now happily living together as husband and wife, with a daughter born in 2020.
"It is the case of Romeo and Juliet, which ended successfully in marriage and the enlargement of the family by the birth of a child," the judge said.
Justice Jayachandran emphasized that the judicial system must choose between strict legal compliance and humanitarian considerations in cases like the one at hand.
"Unfortunately, POCSO Act is silent. That silence in fact laded under which eventually have caused in life of a young couple forced by physical attraction to commit the crime, which prescribes capital punishment," (sic) the judge wrote.
The judgment came in a plea filed under Section 482 of the CrPC to quash proceedings in a case initiated based on a complaint by a 16-year-old girl's mother. The mother alleged that her daughter was missing and had been kidnapped by a 21-year-old auto driver. Consequently, the accused was charged under Section 366(A) of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act.
During the trial, both the victim and her mother were examined and turned hostile. The victim stated that she had willingly married the accused out of love, and they were now living together as husband and wife. Therefore, the petition to quash the case was filed in the interest of justice.
The high court said, "The inherent power under Section 482 of Cr.P.C, is really meant for the cases of this nature and to meet the ends of justice the prosecution against the husband has to be quashed, or else, instead of protecting the minor girl, who attained majority, it will create vulnerability to her and force her to exploitation, which precisely intends to be prevented under the POCSO Act".
Therefore, court allowed the petition and quashed the case against the 21-year-old auto driver.
Case Title: Balaji@ Panai Balaji v. State
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