Minor’s consent no mitigating factor in POCSO: Calcutta HC

Soumyadip Mullick, MP, 28 Aug 2026, Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has upheld the 10-year rigorous imprisonment awarded to a 24-year-old man under the POCSO Act for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-and-10-month-old girl, holding that a minor’s consent cannot be treated as a mitigating factor in a sexual assault case. 

A division bench of Justices Reetobroto Kumar Mitra and Rajarshi Bharadwaj dismissed his appeal against the Special POCSO Court’s April 2024 conviction and sentence. The case arose from a relationship that began after the two met at a relative’s marriage ceremony in 2022. 

They developed a friendship and later a love affair, following which the girl left home and stayed with the appellant in a rented house. They had a physical relationship from December 2022, continuing for several months. 

The girl later visited a primary health centre after falling ill and was found to be pregnant. Following a complaint by the medical officer, police recorded her statement and registered the case in May 2023. 

The court noted that the prosecution examined 13 witnesses, while the appellant did not cross-examine the victim or her mother. It held that the victim’s evidence, supported by medical and documentary evidence, established the physical relationship and penetrative sexual assault. 

The bench also held that the Section 29 POCSO presumption applied. Once the offence was established, the appellant had to rebut the presumption with evidence, but he made no such attempt. 

The court considered the “Romeo-Juliet” approach for adolescent relationships but refused to apply it. The woman had since married another man, who had accepted her and her child. Pairing her with the appellant could disrupt her existing family life, the court said.