The Delhi High Court denied bail holding marriage through Nikahnama after majority does not erase liability for offences committed against minor prosecutrix. Justice Girish Kathpalia ruled accused cannot escape punishment for repeated rape under POCSO despite subsequent marriage
While denying bail to an accused charged under the POCSO Act, the Delhi High Court observed that an accused cannot escape liability merely because he married the prosecutrix after she attained majority through a Nikahnama.
The Court held that such a marriage does not absolve the accused of repeated rape committed when the prosecutrix was a minor.
The Single Bench, Justice Girish Kathpalia, was deciding a bail application filed by an accused booked in connection with offences under Sections 69, 123, 89, 79, 351, 115(2) of the BNS and Section 6 of the POCSO Act.
Justice Kathpalia noted that:
“Of course, as per documents on record, on 12.02.2026, the accused/applicant got married with the prosecutrix through Nikahnama. But that does not absolve the accused/applicant of his repeated acts of rape when the prosecutrix was minor in age. As mentioned above, at the time of commencement of sexual relations between the accused/applicant and the prosecutrix, the latter was aged only 16 years and when she attained the age of majority in the year 2024, the accused/applicant refused to get married with her, which led to the present FIR.”
ALSO READ: Delhi Court in POCSO Case: ‘No Amount of Compensation Can Undo Trauma’
Advocate Hemraj Murmu appeared for the appellant, while Additional Public Prosecutor Sanjeev Sabharwal represented the respondent.
Factual background
The matter arose from an FIR lodged on the statement of the prosecutrix. She alleged that when she was 16 years old, she developed a friendship with the accused/applicant through Facebook. She claimed that they entered into sexual relations on the accused’s false assurances that he would marry her.
She further alleged that during that period she became pregnant twice, and that the accused compelled her to terminate the pregnancies. After she turned 18, she stated that the accused refused to marry her and began assaulting her. It was in these circumstances that she approached the police and filed the complaint.
The Bench’s observations
At the outset, the Court noted that the prosecutrix and her counsel supported the accused/applicant. The prosecutrix told the Court that the contents of the FIR were false and that she was not aware of the same. The Bench also found it surprising that, despite being a law student, the prosecutrix would sign such a serious complaint and hand it over to the local police, particularly after it was translated from English into Hindi without reading its contents.
ALSO READ: POCSO Case || Karnataka HC Grants Anticipatory Bail to EX-CM BS Yediyurappa
The Bench remarked:
“From testimony of prosecutrix, I find credence in the argument of the prosecution that prima facie, her testimony appears to be false, though on this aspect, the trial court shall take an independent view and this observation is being made only to deal with the argument advanced on behalf of the accused/applicant and the prosecutrix.”
Assessment of the marriage and bail request
The Court then examined the circumstances under which the marriage was agreed to. It observed that it was only after the accused/applicant was arrested and while he was lodged in jail that he agreed to marry the prosecutrix, and that too through an order of the Court.
The Bench stated:
“Clearly, the marriage was performed by the accused/applicant simply as a ploy to get himself bailed out, having committed repeated rapes of a minor girl, as alleged by her in the FIR and statement under Section 164 CrPC”.
On that basis, the Bench held that the accused was not entitled to bail, concluding: “Considering the above circumstances, I do not find it a fit case to release the accused/applicant on bail”.
Accordingly, the application was dismissed.
Cause Title: Gayassudin v. State of NCT of Delhi (Neutral Citation: 2026:DHC:2960)
FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE