New Delhi,21/11: Muslim marriages under personal law are not excluded from the POCSO Act and sexual intercourse with a child, even if it is under the guise of marriage, is an offence, the Kerala High Court said.
The court denied bail to a 31-year-old man charged under the Act for allegedly abducting and impregnating a 15-year-old minor girl whom he claims he had married. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, in his order dismissing the bail, said child marriage is a bane of the society and the POCSO Act is to prohibit physical relationships with a child, even under the cover of marriage. “I am of the considered view that marriage between Muslims under personal law is not excluded from the sweep of the POCSO Act. If one of the parties to the marriage is a minor, irrespective of the validity or otherwise of the marriage, offences under the POCSO Act will apply,” Justice Thomas said in an order issued on November 18.