A court in New Delhi has denied bail to a 25-year-old man accused of abducting a 13-year-old girl from the capital, transporting her to Surat, and forcibly marrying her. Additional Sessions Judge Hargurvarinder Singh Jaggi emphasized that a minor's consent holds "absolutely no legal efficacy or validity" in such serious offenses.
Case Details
The case came to light after the victim's father filed a complaint stating that his daughter left their home in Neb Sarai on February 17 to go to her mother's workplace but never arrived and did not return. During the investigation, police discovered that the accused, Mohit Thakur from Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, had visited the victim's neighborhood for an event and allegedly took her with him.
On February 22, the father submitted a photograph received from Thakur's mobile number showing the girl wearing sindoor and a mangalsutra, traditional symbols of marriage. Call detail records revealed that Thakur and the girl traveled to Surat on February 17, where his location was tracked until February 23. After being traced and produced before the police, the girl disclosed that she was compelled by the accused to marry him.
Court's Observations
The defense relied on the victim's statement before a magistrate, where she claimed to have traveled to Surat "voluntarily" and denied any forced marriage or wrongful act. However, the court rejected this argument. "While the learned counsel for the applicant has vigorously canvassed the argument that the minor victim in her Section 183 BNSS statement claimed to have travelled to Surat voluntarily, it is a settled principle of criminal jurisprudence that the consent or willingness of a minor child holds absolutely no legal efficacy or validity in such grave offences," the court noted.
The judge also considered photographs recovered from the accused's mobile phone, calling them "formidable corroborative digital evidence directly linking the applicant to the alleged forced child marriage and exploitation." The court described the allegations as part of a "deeply disturbing factual matrix" and dismissed the bail application, labeling the crime as "heinous."
