Allahabad High Court (Photo: PTI)

PRAYAGRAJ: Rejecting the bail plea of a person accused of raping his girlfriend along with other accused, the Allahabad high court has said that “having consensual sex with a major girl is not an offence, but is unethical, immoral and against established Indian norms”.
Justice Rahul Chaturvedi, while dismissing the bail plea of Raju, one of the accused in the case, said that it was the duty of the man claiming to be the boyfriend of the girl to protect her when she was being sexually harassed by the co-accused.
“The moment the applicant submits that the victim is his beloved, it was his binding duty to protect the dignity, honour and reputation of his girlfriend. If a girl is major one, then to have sex with her consent is not an offence, but certainly it is unethical and immoral and also not in consonance with the established social norms of the Indian society,” the court observed.
The court termed the applicant’s act as “highly deplorable and unbecoming of a boyfriend”, stating that “he remained a silent spectator when the co-accused persons were brutally sexually assassinating his beloved in front of him and no effort to put a stiff resistance was made by him so that the soul and body of the victim could be saved from further butchering by these flesh vultures”.
On February 20, 2021, an FIR was lodged against four accused under Sections 376-D, 392, 323, 504, and 506 of Indian Penal Code and sections 5 and 6 of the Pocso Act at Akil Sarai police station of Kaushambi district.
According to the FIR, the victim went to take sewing lessons at a stitching centre on February 19 and had spoken to her boyfriend Raju over phone and planned to meet him. Later, they meet at a secluded place near a local river. After some time, three other persons reached there, abused and beat up Raju, snatched his mobile and committed the crime with the victim.
After examining the material placed on record and the contents of the FIR, the court in its decision dated October 21 denied bail to the applicant, stating that it cannot be said with certainty that the applicant had got no association or connection with the remaining co-accused.