Kidnapping, sexual abuse of minor girls in marriage pretext on rise: HC

VOICING concern over minor girls being subjected to sexual assault under the pretext of marriage, the Delhi High Court has said such incidents compromise the very notion of empowerment of women, and dismissed an appeal filed by a man against his conviction and 10year sentence for kidnapping and raping the victim.

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The high court said impressionable minds of minor victims are profoundly impacted as they lack the capacity to make informed decisions at the tender age of 12 or 14. These girls, it said, are misled by making them believe that they are entering into a marital union.

The sexual assault is often projected by the offender as marital physical union to coax the victim to accept it without resistance, the court said.