376AB, 376(2)(f), POCSO 6 Act & Prevention of Atrocities 3(2)(v)
An FIR is registered and Chargesheet is filed under 376AB, 376(2)(f), POCSO 6 Act & Prevention of Atrocities 3(2)(v).
1. The Father of the Victim(Deceased) gave oral evidence that the Victim was 19 years at the time of incident without being able to provide documentary evidence. The Father of the Victim also denied that he had done the School admission which School admission register provided by the prosecution during trial.
2. Ossification test says age of the Victim was between 18 - 21 years.
3. In the High Court Bail Rejection Order the Court Court Observed & mentioned the following in it's order: As regards the age of the victim, it is seen that the doctor examining her has placed it at 18 to 21 years, which is said to be her bone age. Even accepting for the sake of argument that the victim was a major girl, the same will not absolve the Petitioner of his guilt in view of the fact that there is nothing in the statement of the victim to even remotely show that she had consented to such relationship.
Now the questions I have is:
1. Is the above points sufficient to establish in the trial court that the victim was 18 years at the time of incident ?
2. If it is established that Age of the Victim was 18 years at the time of incident, then can the Trial Court still convict the accused when 376AB, 376(2)(f) would not be applicable when the Victim is above 18 years even if there would be a DNA Positive Match?
3. In a scenario lets say Trial Court considers the age of the Victim as 17 then 376AB, 376(2)(f) will still not be applicable only POCSO 6 Act will be applicable. Can the Trial Court still convict only under 6 POCSO Act ?