Sessions Court

bail application

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences

POCSO

chargesheet

sexual relations

Bombay High Court

Victim’s grandparents allegedly forced her into ‘marrying’ the accused, who promised to transfer 6-acre plot in victim’s name; he has a daughter aged 15.in Mumbai has rejected theof 55-year-old lawyer for marrying a 15-yearold minor and raping her repeatedly after the lawyer argued that it was a ‘mistake’.The special judge presiding over the) court specifically noted the lawyer’s arguments before rejecting his bail application in a detailed order.Patil, who has a 15-year-old daughter of his own, was arrested in December last year after victim, who is now 17, approached the Kalachowkie police, stating that she was being tortured by him. Patil, however, filed a bail application saying that the investigation in the case was complete as thehad already been filed.The grandparents of the victim had allegedly forced her into the marriage, have also been named as accused, and are wanted in the case.Patil ‘married’ the minor after the death of his first wife in 2014. The complaint was filed by the victim on December 13, 2017.It is the prosecution’s case that the minor lived in a village with her grandparents and visited her parents during school vacations. It is also their case that in 2015, when she was in Class IX, her grandmother received a ‘proposal’ from the accused through another woman in the village. Cops said the minor had refused to marry the man citing her age, and expressed a desire to complete her education. It was further alleged that at their first meeting, the victim was shocked to see that the accused was not a young boy, but a middle-aged man.The child was allegedly forced to ‘marry’ the accused despite her protests. The cops said the grandmother tried to convince the girl by citing her mother's illness, and saying that there would be no one to look after her in the future.The cops further alleged that the accused had agreed to transfer a six acre plot of land in the village in the minor's name in if they ‘married’. They also said that although her father was against the marriage, he remained mute due to her mother’s illness.On April 21, 2015, the accused allegedly ‘married’ the victim in the presence of around 40 relatives. Cops said the victim was brought to the city, where the accused began to sexually abuse the victim despite her protests.The remand further states that this July, the accused began to suspect the minor’s “character”, following which he allegedly physically abused her and confined her to the home.The remand plea states that despite being a lawyer and an educated man who was well aware of the law, the lawyer ‘married’ and hadwith a minor.Police suspect that the accused had lured the victim’s grandparents by providing them with material incentive.The accused had approached the court earlier as well; however, his application was rejected. He then approached the, and subsequently withdrew the application when the court did not seem inclined to pass an order in his favour.