SC dismisses rape survivor's plea to marry her assaulter
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a rape survivor's plea from Kottiyoor in Kerala, seeking permission to marry her assaulter - a defrocked priest who is undergoing 20-year imprisonment for raping the girl when she was a minor. The SC also dismissed the priest's plea seeking bail on the ground that he wanted to marry the survivor, who had given birth to a child.
Would not interfere with the decision of High Court: SC
A bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari told the former priest, the Kerala High Court has taken a decision consciously and we would not like to interfere with its finding. It told the victim that she may knock on the door of the trial court with her plea to marry the former priest.
HC passed sweeping directions with regard to marriage: Priest's advocate
During the hearing, advocate Amit George, appearing for the former priest, said that the High Court had passed sweeping directions in the case with regard to marriage, which is a fundamental right.
SC asked the age of the victim and former priest
The bench asked George what is the age of the victim and the former priest to which he replied that his client is 49, while the rape survivor is around 25. The top court then told George, "You yourself have invited sweeping directions from the high court and it would not like to interfere."
Survivor's lawyer sought interim bail for the marriage ceremony
Meanwhile, at the outset, senior advocate Kiran Suri, appearing for the woman, said that she has sought interim bail for the accused for two months so that he can marry her and give some legitimacy to the four-year-old child.
The priest was found guilty by POCSO court in 2019
Notably, the defrocked priest, Robin Vadakkumcherry, who had initially tried to frame the woman's father, was found guilty by a POCSO court in 2019 after the woman turned hostile as she claimed that they had a consensual relationship. On February 16, the High Court dismissed the plea of the former priest seeking bail to marry the survivor saying that it has no merit.
It would mean granting judicial approval to marriage: HC
The High Court had said that the trial court's finding that the survivor was a minor at the time of rape is still in force and an appeal against the conviction of the accused is still pending before it. It had said that allowing the parties to get married while the trial court's finding is intact would mean granting judicial approval to the marriage.
SC had earlier termed Kottiyoor rape case as 'very serious'
On July 13, 2018, the top court had termed as "very serious" the charges in the Kottiyoor rape case involving the minor and the then Catholic priest. It had refused to stay the trial of the case.
