Minor girls have right to deny sexual abuse: HC

At a time when the entire nation is disturbed over rising incidents of rapes, the Bombay High Court voiced its concern on the increase in sexual offences against minor girls.

A single-judge bench of Justice Bharati Dangre recently while disposing a criminal appeal penned down some observations for rights of minor girls. The judge said that even a minor girl has the right to live with dignity and has the right to make a choice, which includes denying sexual intercourse. Justice Dangre said, “The girl child has a right to live with dignity. She has a right to good health, physical as well as mental. She has the right to equal opportunity, like a male child, to develop into a mature, independent woman. “A girl child has the right to make a choice, which in my view also includes the right to deny sexual intercourse with a person,” Justice Dangre held. The judge made these observations while dismissing the plea of Dada Gaikwad (19), a Pune resident, who challenged the orders of a sessions court. He had challenged his conviction and sentence of nearly 10 years for abducting and raping a minor girl. The prosecution claimed that Gaikwad kidnapped the minor girl from her house and took her to a nearby sugarcane field where he raped her for two days. The case of the prosecution was corroborated with the evidence of the victim and some other witnesses.

The convict Gaikwad in order to defend himself, disputed the girl’s medical reports, since it failed to mention any injury marks on the girl’s body. He argued that since there was no injury mark on the girl’s person, it clarifies

A girl child has the right to make a choice, which in my view also includes the right to deny sexual intercourse with a person — JUSTICE BHARATI DANGRE

that no rape took place.

Trashing his contentions, Justice Dangre held that mere absence of injury marks on a victim’s person do not falsify her allegations of rape.

“The absence of visible marks of injuries on the victim would not lead to an inference that she has not suffered any injuries, or that she has not offered any resistance and would not falsify her allegations of forcible sexual intercourse,” Justice Dangre held.

While dismissing Gaikwad’s appeal, Justice Dangre said, “A heinous offence like rape committed on a minor girl cannot be looked at with laxity. Hence, I find no merit in the appeal and the same stands dismissed.”