Gujarat High Court Orders Appearance of Rape Accused, Will Explore The Possibility Of ‘Compromise’

Gujarat High Court Orders Appearance of Rape Accused, Will Explore The Possibility Of ‘Compromise’

In an important case, the Gujarat High Court, while hearing a minor rape victim’s plea seeking permission for abortion, on Thursday asked the authorities to produce the accused to explore the possibility of a “compromise” between him and the girl.

The court had previously ordered the rape victim’s medical examination.

Justice Samir Dave, after going through the records produced by the victim’s lawyer and the medical report submitted by a panel of doctors, on Thursday directed the authorities to produce the 23-year-old accused, who was lodged in Morbi after being sent to judicial custody on Friday evening & locked up in jail.

Before passing the order, the judge asked Sikandar Sayyed, counsel for the victim, “Where is the accused? Is there any chance of settlement?”

Advocate Sayyed told the court that he had tried his best to explore the possibility of settlement, but the accused was not ready. To this Justice Dave said, “Okay, I will call him. If he is behind bars, I can call him. Let me ask him… Let me find out from the boy… I have found some solutions…But I am not disclosing it. Will consider tomorrow.”

Advocate Sayyed replied that if the accused had agreed to a settlement, the matter would have been over. He further said that this would save the lives of three people. But Assistant Public Prosecutor Jaswant Shah intervened, saying that what had been said by the court earlier in good faith was unnecessarily taken otherwise.

During the previous hearing, Justice Dave had made it clear that the court cannot allow termination of pregnancy if the victim and the fetus are in good condition. The rape victim is 16 years 11 months old and has a seven-month-old fetus in her womb. Her father had approached the High Court for permission to terminate the pregnancy as the pregnancy has crossed the limit of 24 weeks that can be performed without the leave of the court.