Allahabad HC Grants Interim Bail For POCSO Accused To Marry Survivor

In a recent ruling, the Allahabad High Court granted interim bail to a man accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) so that he could marry the survivor or the complainant. The man was in custody since January 2 under the charges of raping a 17-year-old girl. However, he filed a plea for bail at the High Court. The case was registered in Pratapgarh district. 

As per the reports, the accused claimed that he was in a relationship with the girl. The girl too confirmed his version and said that she wanted to marry him. She already had given birth to a child who is more than a month old. 

The accused further claimed that the complaint was registered by the girl's parents who belong to a different religious background. 

The judge's statement

After noting all these statements, Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan allowed interim bail to the accused and directed him to marry the girl within 15 days. Applying conditions to the bail, the judge said, "Immediately after release from jail the applicant shall get married with the prosecutrix within a period of 15 days from the date of release." 

He further ordered that the couple must get their marriage registered before the Registrar of Marriage within 15 days and produce the certificate in the next hearing which would be held on July 3. The court directed the Registrar to speed up the process if all the necessary conditions are met. 

The court also said that the interim bail would be cancelled if the accused and the girl broke any of the conditions mentioned above or if the girl's parents lodged a complaint regarding this. 

Even though the State opposed it, it later reconciled

The State tried to contest the judge's decision by saying that the was 17 years old which is less than the minimum marriageable age required for women in India. however, since both the parties were willing to marry, the State stepped back and said that the court's decision is appropriate. 

The case raises many questions. How can a rapist be asked to marry the survivor? How can a survivor who is a minor be asked to get married by the court? How can a minor girl decide whether the sex was consensual or not? 

How the court reinforced the patriarchal ideology

Apart from violating all these laws, the court also legitimised the  patriarchal concept of marrying a woman to her rapist. Such ideas erupt from the misconception that a woman once violated can never get married to anyone. Moreover, a woman who has been violated by a man becomes his property. When we are trying our best to remove the rape culture from our society, why are courts bent on reinstating them? If courts and laws do not protect women, how will women survive in a biased society?

Even though the law promises to protect women and their respect and modesty, its protectors end up being another tool of patriarchy. I am not trying to generalise because in many cases laws have been the saviour of women who were wronged. But my question is why do many women still remain deprived of their legal powers? Why many cases of rape and assault are still pending? Why do judges sometimes pass orders that further oppress women? If the law or the protectors of law want to be women-centric, it needs to get rid of the inherent biases. 

Recently, Delhi High Court's judge Justice Swarna Kant Sharma stressed the point that there is a need to integrate gender sensitivity in judicial proceedings and education. The judge said, "Given the complexity of contemporary legal disputes, particularly in matters where there may not be only two genders but more given different sexual orientations and preferences, the judicial academies, which carry the most important burden of training their protégés, must include in their curriculum the chapters addressing the perils of unrecognized gender and other biases which get reflected in the judgments.” 

Views expressed are the author's own.