A 25-year-old Mohali resident was acquitted of charges of kidnapping a girl after she told the court that they both were married. Shamsher Singh was let off by the court after the girl stated that she was not a minor, as claimed by her parents, and that she had gone with Shamsher willingly.
As per the FIR, which was registered on June 13, 2017, on the complaint of the girl’s father, she had gone missing on June 6 from their residence in Sector 32. He stated that he was unable to locate her as her mobile phone was switched off. The girl’s father had told the police that her age was 16 at the time.
The police later arrested Shamsher and also recovered the girl. While the FIR was registered under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC, Section 9 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act was added during the filing of challan.
As per defence counsel Mandeep Singh: “The girl told the court that she was 19-year-old and had married Shamsher willingly”.
While the charges of kidnapping did not hold after the girl’s statement, her age could not be proved hence the charges of child marriage could also not be proved, he said.
