Point of Law : Section 361 of IPC is kidnapping from lawful guardianship.

ORDER :

The challenge in these Crl.M.Cs. is to the orders passed by the Additional Sessions Judge-I (Special Judge), Palakkad returning the final reports submitted in these five cases.

2. Heard Shri. S.U. Nazar, the learned Special Public Prosecutor.

FACTS:

Crl.M.C.No.1517 of 2023

3. The accused, a native of Mailadumthurai, Tamil Nadu is staying in a rented house near the house of respondent No.2. He was working as a casual labourer. On 23.7.2022 the accused kidnapped a 17 year old minor girl from the legal guardianship of respondent No.2, her mother, knowing that she belongs to Cheruma Caste. The accused committed sexual assault repeatedly on the minor girl during the period from 17.7.2022 to 30.7.2022 at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The offences alleged against the accused are punishable under Sections 363, 376(2)(n) of IPC, Section 3(a) r/w Section 4(1), Section 5(1) r/w Section 6(1) of the POCSO Act, 2012 and Sections 3(2)(V), 3(2)(Va) of SC/ST POA Act.

Crl.M.C.No.1609 of 2023

4. On 7.10.2022 at 9 p.m., a girl aged 13 years went to school and had not returned home. Her mother gave a statement to the Kozhinjampara Police Station, based on which crime No.656/2022 was registered. On investigation, it was revealed that the missing girl had an affair with the accused, who is her neighbour. The Police traced the girl from Ranchi District, Jharkhand. The accused and the victim were brought to Kozhinjampara on 22.10.2022. The statement of the girl would reveal that on reaching Ranchi, they were given shelter in the house of a friend of the accused, and on 10.10.2022 and 12.10.2022, the accused committed aggravated sexual assault on the minor girl. As per the statement of the mother, the accused took her minor daughter without her consent, and thus he committed the offences punishable under Sections 363, 366, 354-A(1)(i), 376(3) of IPC and Section 10 r/w Section 9(l), Section 6(1) r/w Section 5(l), Section 3(b) r/w Section 4(2) of the POCSO Act.

Crl.M.C.No.1807 of 2023

5. The accused kidnapped a girl who was 16 years old from the lawful guardianship of her parents on 16.5.2022 from Manthakkad Sastha Colony Canal road and outraged her modesty from 16.5.2022 to 18.5.2022 and also committed penetrative sexual assault on her on several occasions. The investigation revealed that the accused had committed the offences punishable under Sections 354-A(1)(i), 376(1), 376(2)(n), 363 of IPC , Section 6(1) r/w Sections 5(j)(ii) & 5(l) and Section 4(1) r/w Section 3(a) of the POCSO Act.

Crl.M.C.No.1828 of 2023

6. The prosecution case is that between 19.10.2022 and 20.10.2022, the accused kidnapped a 15 year old minor girl from the lawful guardianship of her parents from her house in Kannode in Palakkad District. He kidnapped the girl by promising her to marry and took her to his house in Varappuzha and committed repeated penetrative sexual assault on her. Thus, the accused committed offences punishable under Sections 363, 354-A(1)(ii), 354-D, 376(2) (n), 476(3) of IPC, Section 3(a) r/w Section 4(2), Section 6 r/w Section 5(l), Section 7 r/w Section 8 and Section 12 r/w Section 11(iv) of the POCSO Act.

Crl.M.C.No.4380 of 2023

7. The allegation against the accused is that he kidnapped a 17 year old minor girl from the Kollengode Town Bus stop without the consent of her parents and brought her to his house in Manapparai, Tamil Nadu. The accused then committed sexual assault on the minor girl repeatedly on 19.12.2022 and 2012.2022 in his house and thus committed the offences punishable under Section 363 of IPC, Section 8 r/w Section 7 and Section 10 r/w Section 9(l) of the POCSO Act. .

8. In all these cases, the offence under Section 363 of the Indian Penal Code was allegedly committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the Sessions Court, Palakkad. According to the prosecution, the rest of the offences were allegedly committed beyond the jurisdiction of the Sessions Court, Palakkad.

9. The crux of the impugned order is that as the minor girls left their guardia