Rape Trial: Supreme Court Issues Notice On Bail Application Upon Accused’s Plea That Victim Aged 17 Yrs 8 Months Had Consented To Act

Noting the submission that allegedly the victim had consented to the act, the Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on a bail plea of a man accused of rape of a girl, who was a minor aged 17 years 8 months at the time of the offence. The bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and Ajay Rastogi was hearing a SLP against a September order of the Bombay High Court denying bail to 34-year-old Amit Raoso Patil accused in a case registered on a complaint of the victim under Sections 376, 354-D, 506 of the IPC, and since the victim was a minor, provisions of Sections 3, 4, 11 and 12 of the POCSO were also invoked. Refusing bail to the petitioner accused of raping the 17-year-old girl who happened to be his business partner’s daughter, the High Court had observed “rape is just not forcible intercourse, it means to inhabit and destroy everything”