The Delhi High Court has imposed a cost of ₹10,000 on a man who sought the quashing of a rape case involving a minor girl, rejecting his plea that continuation of proceedings would subject the victim to social stigma.
Justice Girish Kathpalia, delivering the verdict on Friday, stressed that the stigma of such crimes must attach to the perpetrator and not the victim. “The stigma has to be, not on the victim of the wrong, but on the perpetrator of the wrong. There has to be a paradigm shift in the societal mindset by attaching stigma to the accused and not to the girl, who underwent horrid suffering by way of rape,” the court observed in its order.
The FIR in the case was registered last year under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including sections relating to rape and kidnapping, along with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The minor victim had alleged that the accused blackmailed her into a physical relationship after making her video.
The accused, who had been declared a proclaimed offender, approached the high court arguing that the victim’s parents had settled the matter with him, and continuing the proceedings would expose her to social stigma.
Rejecting the plea, Justice Kathpalia held that the contention was both “obnoxious” and without merit. The court clarified that only the prosecutrix herself could pardon the wrongdoer in specific legal circumstances, not her parents. “For it is the minor girl, and not her parents, who was wronged and suffered because of the alleged act on the part of the petitioner,” the order stated.
The Delhi Police had also opposed the petition, pointing out that the accused had been evading the law and that the victim was still a minor.
With these findings, the high court not only dismissed the plea but also imposed a cost of ₹10,000 on the petitioner, sending a strong message against attempts to suppress serious cases of sexual assault on minors under the guise of settlement or social stigma.
