Punjab-Haryana High Court in their significant ruling, clarified that a person cannot be held liable for kidnapping if a minor, deemed to have reached an age of understanding, leaves home of their own volition. The boyfriend of a 17-year-old girl who is accused of kidnapping her was granted bail by the court.
The Fatehgarh Sahib Police initially opened an investigation into the case after receiving a complaint that claimed the young girl had been kidnapped and forced into marriage. But in her statement before the magistrate, the girl said that she had accompanied the petitioner voluntarily, disproving the claim that she had been abducted.
The High Court stressed in its ruling that, in order to prove a crime under Section 363 of the IPC, it must be established that the accused was involved in the minor's forcible separation from their guardians. When a minor decides to leave her parents' house on her own, having reached an appropriate age and understanding, the accused cannot be charged with kidnapping.
In this case, the girl, aged 17 years and 4 months, is on the brink of adulthood and affirmed her voluntary departure in her statement to the magistrate.
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