A 22-year-old youth, who had eloped with a minor girl and married her with her consent, was sentenced to seven years in jail for raping her by a Delhi court after he could not prove that physical relations between them were consensual.
Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Jain handed down the minimum sentence, under section 376 (rape) of IPC, to Advesh while noting that the girl had eloped with him and married him voluntarily but he failed to prove that she had given her consent to establish physical relation with him.
"I am of the considered opinion that prosecution has succeeded in bringing home the guilt of the accused beyond the shadow of all reasonable doubts for the offence punishable under Section 376 IPC," the judge said while also imposing a fine of Rs 1,000 on him.
Avdesh was working as a domestic help in a house next to the girl's residence.
The court, while convicting Avdesh, gave credence to the testimony of the girl that he made physical relations with her against her wishes and he could not prove her statement wrong.
"In the absence of any contrary evidence, I do not find any reason to disbelieve the same (victim's testimony)", the judge said.
