OVERVIEW
A nineteen-year-old boy accused of sexually assaulting a thirteen-year-old girl has been denied bail by the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The Court held that mere sending of a Facebook request does not mean that someone has the right to establish sexual relations with the person.
Justice Anoop Chitkara also noted that people do not use social media to get stalked or be sexually and mentally exploited, they just use it as a source of entertainment or for networking.
WHAT IS THE CASE ABOUT?
In the case of Rajeev vs. the State of HP, the accused took the minor girl to a hotel and established sexual relations with her. In his defense, he said that he believed the girl was above eighteen years as she had created the account in her name and sent him a friend request.
For this, the single judge bench observed that many users are between the age groups of 15-29. It was also noted that it is not mandatory to be above eighteen years of age to make an account on Facebook according to their guidelines. So prima facie, there is no proof that the accused did not know about the real age of the girl.
The accused also claimed that he had consensual sex with the girl. For this, the Court stated that since the victim, was under 18 years of age, her consent is irrelevant. This is noted in the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
The case of Ragunath Ramnath Zolekar vs. State of Maharashtra was referred in which the Bombay High Court observed that mistake of age cannot be used as an argument or defense. It was argued that mens rea lies under Section 375 and 376 IPC and until it is not proved that the victim is below 16 years of age, then penal liability will not be there. This was rejected by the Division Bench.
Hence, while dismissing the petition requesting bail the Court stated that no grounds for the same has been provided by the accused.
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