A youth jailed for five years for kidnapping and raping a minor has been acquitted by the Delhi High Court which said it was the girl who had lured him to take her away and had happily travelled with him.
Justice G P Mittal, while freeing Srikant who has been in custody since his arrest on December 16, 2009 and had challenged his conviction by the trial court, said "this appeal tells once more story of a runaway young couple which runs into rough weather."
"It is a well known fact that where the girl is firm inspite of the pressure from her family, the boy (with who she elopes) comes through with flying colours and their elopement becomes a success story but where the girl succumbs to the pressure of the family, the boy remains in prison for years without any ray of hope," the court observed.
It also noted that the love letters written by the girl to the youth not only expressed her love for him but also suggested the ways as to how he could take her away.
"Thus, it was not the boy who took the girl out of keeping of the lawful guardianship of her parents but it was the girl who lured him to take her away.
"A perusal of the love letters also shows that the girl was more than willing to accompany the boy, and she happily travelled with him and stayed with him for six days," it said.
The case against Srikant was registered on a missing complaint lodged by the girl's father who had said that on December 10, 2009, his daughter had left for school but did not return and he suspected the accused of kidnapping her.
Later on, the girl was recovered and accused was booked for kidnapping and rape.
As per the school records, the girl's age on the day of alleged incident was 15 years and four months.
However, relying on the affidavit annexed with the record, the high court held that the girl was at least 16-year-old at the time of the alleged incident and it cannot rely solely on the school records.
