Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has upheld a person's  conviction for raping a minor but halved his sentence because the victim had apparently consented to the sex.

Dilip Thakre (20), a resident of Moregaon in Jalgaon district, was convicted by a sessions court in October last year for raping a 14-year-old girl.

Justice B R Gavai, who heard his appeal, held that "it appears that the act took place with the victim's consent," but added that she being only fourteen at the time, her consent did not matter and Thakre was guilty.

However, the court showed some leniency in quantum of the sentence. "Taking into consideration the accused's age and the fact that the act was done with victim's consent", the judge reduced the seven years RI to three and half years RI in the judgement pronounced on September 24.

Earlier, Thakre was sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment, against which he filed appeal before the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court.

According to the prosecution's case, the girl, a resident of Jamner taluka, had gone to Moregaon in May 2006 to work there as a sugarcane-cutter.

She was accosted by Thakre, who took her to a banana orchard nearby and forced her into an intercourse, prosecution said.

According to the girl's version, she stayed with him for three days. Two weeks later, when she returned to her own family, she told her mother about the incident. Thakre was arrested and convicted for rape.
Source : PTI