A woman from Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, withdrew a case in the Madras High Court against a man who had raped her when she was a minor, saying she has married him. The woman claimed she got weary from the long court battles, and was left with no choice but to seek his support as she has a child from the assault, and her parents are dead.
The Indian Express reported that the High Court had earlier suggested that she “reconcile” with her rapist, but at the time she had slammed the order, saying “Did the judge ever think how I suffered all these years? He knew I had a baby from that rape. And now this single order of his wants me to go through that suffering again.”
In October, the High Court had set aside a lower court’s order to convict the accused, asking the trial court to re-check her age proof from the time of the assault. The man had claimed they had consensual sex, though the girl had said she was 15 at the time. According to Indian law, sex with a minor amounts to rape. Even though she had the documents to prove her age claim, the re-trial in the lower court went on for days, so the woman went to the court and said she will marry him.
The woman's brother said: “I was struggling without a job, and she felt she was being a burden, dependent on me. She knew he [the accused] was trying to marry her only to escape conviction. He succeeded."
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