Rape accused gets 1-month bail to marry survivor | India News

CUTTACK: Orissa excessive court docket has granted a 26-year-old rape accused one-month bail to marry a 22-year-old girl he’s accused of raping when she was 16, observing that their relationship was consensual, not pressured or exploitative.“The allegations, though serious in their statutory framing, arise out of a consensual relationship between two individuals who are very close in age and shared a personal bond prior to the filing of the present case,” Justice S K Panigrahi mentioned within the bail order uploaded on Monday. The man was jailed below Pocso Act in 2023 on the lady’s criticism that he had maintained bodily relationship along with her since 2019 on the promise of marriage. She complained that she had turn out to be pregnant twice in 2020 and 2022, and each occasions he pressured her to terminate the being pregnant.The man had not too long ago moved court docket for interim bail, claiming that his and the lady’s households have agreed that the petitioner ought to marry the complainant. “The petitioner has expressed his consent to this arrangement and has undertaken to solemnize the marriage upon his release,” the person’s lawyer informed the court docket.The court docket famous, “The possibility of reconciliation, the familial understanding now reached, and the future prospects of both parties further tilt the balance in favour of extending temporary liberty without compromising the integrity of the ongoing investigation or the dignity of the prosecutrix.”