SC has ruled that men can’t be acquitted even if they later marry the women in question, because “causing abortion without woman’s consent” is a crime.
NEW DELHI: Men forcing abortions on their lovers, beware! The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that such men can’t be acquitted even if they later marry the women in question, because “causing abortion without woman’s consent” is a crime that carries a punishment of life term.
In a rare judgment involving strange facts, the court, however, held on Wednesday that since the man and the complainant woman were married during the pendency of his appeal for acquittal, it would be in the interest of justice that he be given the sentence the “accused” had already undergone.
Assam villager Hasi Mohan Barman had a “love affair” with a woman. After the woman became pregnant with his child, villagers put pressure on Barman to marry her. He, rather, asked her to abort the child. She refused.
One night Barman took her to the pharmacy of his friend Abinash Biswas, who aborted the child without her consent after giving her anaesthesia.
Barman kept her at the friend’s pharmacy for about nine days, after which she filed a police complaint. Barman was arrested and charged under section 313 of IPC, aborting a child without the mother’s consent. The offence carries a maximum sentence of life, besides fine.
The trial court and the Guwahati high court convicted both Barman and Biswas, but they restricted the sentence to three years.
In the SC, Barman’s “wife” and complainant said he had married her, compounding the offence. The judges verified her averment but held that an offence under section 313 isn’t compoundable, which means the parties can’t reach a compromise. “We are of the opinion that the complainant and the main accused having already married, it will be in the interest of justice if the sentence is reduced to the period already undergone,” they said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}