Chandigarh: A special fast-track court dealing with Pocso and rape cases in Chandigarh has acquitted a 21-year-old man after holding that the prosecution failed to prove that the complainant was a minor at the time of the alleged offence.The case dates back to Dec 17, 2024, when Manimajra police received information that a girl, stated to be a minor, had given birth to a child at Govt Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32. Based on her statement, police registered a case under Section 65(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and arrested the accused.During the trial, however, the complainant, examined as the prosecution’s principal witness, did not support the case and was declared hostile. She told the court that she had married the accused of her own free will at a temple on March 23, 2024, and that the couple had a newborn daughter.The woman stated that her husband had neither forced himself upon her nor committed any wrongdoing and that she had not lodged any complaint with the police. She further told the court that her date of birth was Nov 12, 2005, making her an adult at the relevant time.The prosecution relied on school records showing her date of birth as Nov 12, 2008. However, during cross-examination, the school principal admitted that no original birth certificate was available in the school records. The prosecution also failed to examine the woman’s parents or produce any other primary evidence to establish her age.Defence counsel Manpreet Singh Kaler argued that the prosecution had failed to prove the complainant’s age through reliable evidence.Additional sessions judge Dr Yashika observed that school admission records alone could not conclusively establish age unless the person who supplied the date of birth was examined or the documents on which the entry was based were duly proved.Holding that the prosecution had failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the complainant was a minor and noting her statement that she was an adult who had voluntarily married the accused, the court acquitted the man of all charges.
