HC GRANTS BAIL TO 18-YEAR-OLD BOOKED FOR RAPING FRIEND

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday granted bail to an 18-year-old, who was arrested for raping his girlfriend, after observing that the survivor did not complain about the alleged crime till their relationship turned sour.

“The first information report (FIR) prima facie reveals that the survivor did not complain about the alleged rape till the relationship took a turn for the worse and both mutually decided to part ways,” justice Bharati Dangre said while granting bail to the man, booked by the cyber cell of Mumbai Police on July 7.

The survivor complained that she was introduced to the accused while she was in junior college when the two were minors. When they got into a relationship, the two used to visit each other’s residences. She alleged once when she visited the house of the accused, he allegedly sexually assaulted the woman.

Though she maintained that the act was without her consent, she did not lodge any complaint about the incident at the time. She approached the police only after their relationship turned sour and they decided to part ways in the last week of June. The trigger for lodging of the complaint, the girl claimed, was that the accused sent some of his intimate photos with the survivor to her mother, and also threatened to send the photos to other family members.

“This is a typical case of teenagers moving too fast and being eager to explore the world,” said justice Dangre.

Justice Dangre has now ordered the teenager to be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond of ₹25,000 and surety of the same amount.

The court said the accused’s mobile phone has been seized.

CITING THAT THE WOMAN DIDN’T FILE COMPLAINT TILL THE RELATIONSHIP TURNED SOUR, THE JUDGE SAID IT WAS A CASE OF TEENAGERS MOVING TOO FAST