Cuttack: The Orissa High Court granted a one -month bail to a 26 -year -old rape accused, who is on a month’s bail to marry a 22 -year -old woman, when she was 16 years old, accused of rape, given that her relationship was agreed, not forced or exploited.“Allegations, although serious in his statutory framing, arise from a consent between two persons, who are very close to age and share a personal bond before filing the current case,” Justice SK Panegrhi said in the bail order uploaded on Monday, Justice SK Panegrahi said. The person was jailed under the POCSO Act on the complaint of the woman in 2023 that he had maintained a physical relationship with her since 2019 on the promise of marriage. She complained that she had become pregnant twice in 2020 and 2022, and both times she forced her to end pregnancy.The man had recently stepped into court for interim bail, claiming that he and women families agreed that the petitioner should marry the complainant. The man’s lawyer told the court, “The petitioner has agreed to the arrangement and has done to complete the marriage on his release.”The court said, “The possibility of harmony, family understanding now reached, and the future possibilities of both sides carry forward the balance in favor of expanding temporary freedom without compromising the integrity of the dignity of the prosecution.”
