'No rape charge if minor in love elopes'

NEW DELHI: It is not an offence for a girl under 18 to fall in love or desire to marry her beloved, a city court recently held while acquitting a man charged with kidnapping and raping a minor.
In a case involving a 17-year-old who had eloped with her boyfriend Ajit — the accused — and reportedly married at a Bareilly temple, additional sessions judge Kamini Lau held: "...The 17-year-old prosecutrix (the girl) has a right to protect her feelings from the onslaught of her parents and the society.If she had run away to save herself from such an onslaught with her love, this in the view of the court is no offence."