Madras High Court quashes POCSO charges, child marriage case against man citing plight of children born from the union

The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court recently quashed a case against a man charged with offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) after noting that the victim was his wife whom he had married while she was a minor and that the children born out of the wedlock would suffer if the accused were sent to jail. .Justice Sathi Kumar Sukumara Kurup observed that the children would be denied the love, affection and care of their father and grandparents if the criminal case filed against them under the POCSO Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 is allowed to continue..“It is a very shocking circumstance … If the provisions of the POCSO Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, are mechanically applied, for no fault of the minor children, who are aged 3 and 2, they had to live a cruel life and face cruelty of the society. Therefore, this is a peculiar circumstance,” the Court added..The case was registered after the woman (who is now an adult) was brought to a hospital for a medical examination by her mother, prompting the doctors to contact the police on concerns that she may have been married off as a minor. Subsequently, a POCSO case was filed against her husband who also faced charges under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Moreover, charges under the 2006 Act were filed against the man’s parents and the parents of the victim-woman. The accused then filed a petition before the Madras High Court to quash the criminal proceedings against them in the matter..To decide the matter, the Court interacted with the couple and sought a status report from the police to ascertain that the man and the woman were now living as husband and wife and had two children from the union.The High Court noted that the involvement of the accused in the crime “cannot at all be denied” but added that the case is a complicated one. The judge went on to opine that top priority ought to be given to the children born from the union, particularly their mental and physical health and their future.In such circumstances, the Court opined that a “crude application of law” should be avoided. Therefore, the Court proceeded to quash the criminal case against the accused persons (husband, parents and parents-in-law of the victim woman)..The Court added that the order was passed in an “extraordinary circumstance” and “cannot be applied as a general rule.”“Considering the welfare of the minor children, who are too young and also considering the social and educational status of A1 to A4, they have to be shown some lenience. Therefore, exercising the extraordinary power under Section 482 Cr.P.C., this Court is inclined to quash the case against the Petitioners (accused) herein,” the Court said..Advocate N Balasubramanian represented the petitioners while Government Advocate (criminal side) M Veeranthiran represented the State. Advocate S Vikraman appeared for the second respondent (wife).