Rethink age of consent for sex,Court tells lawmakers

“Many jurisdictions world over have made allowances regarding age of consent in cases where there is not much difference between the age of older partner and that of the minor engaged in a sexual act. The enforcement of the age of consent law varies in different places depending upon culture,social sensibilities and changing societal attitudes,” Lau said.

In the present case,the court noted that the girl and the accused were in love and had planned to elope since their parents had not consented to their marriage. At the time of the incident,in October 2008,the girl’s father had filed an FIR saying his daughter was a minor and had been kidnapped by the accused. On the same day,she was ‘rescued’ from the Wazirpur area here.

During trial,the father and mother of the girl said after seven months of the alleged incident,she was married to a Bihar-based man and they were now living happily. The parents told the court that they have not informed the husband of their daughter about the incident and requested the court not to summon her as her marital life would be ruined.

The court noted that the accused youth was also happily married to another person and ruled that the future of the two youngsters should not be destroyed by an incident that occurred in their past. Further,it noted that during trial,an ossification test of the girl was conducted and,as per the medical record,she was of 18-19 years at the time of the alleged incident and the accused was only a few years older.

“The legal system cannot be used to punish youngsters in love who are at the verge of attaining majority and this court cannot ruin their lives by taking a hyper- technical view,especially so when the age gap between these youngsters is within acceptable limits and does not reflect an exploitative coercive situation,” the court said.