O R D E R

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This application is filed under Section 438 of the Cr.P.C.

2. This application is taken up and heard through Videoconferencing.

3. The petitioner is the accused in Crime No. 583 of 2020 of Mannarkad Police Station registered under Sections 450, 376(2)(n), and Section 5 r/w. Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

4. The petitioner is aged about 30 years. He is alleged to have entered into an engagement ceremony with a minor girl. It is further alleged that during the period from 18.4.2019 till 21.03.2020, the petitioner had sexual intercourse with the minor girl as a result of which she became pregnant. The girl was taken to the hospital for prenatal checkup and it was then that the doctor noticed the minority of the girl. The incident was reported and the instant crime was registered.

5. Sri.K.Mohammed Rafeeq, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the petitioner was made to believe that the girl had attained majority and it was on that basis that he married her. It was only later that he got information that the girl was a minor. To prove that the petitioner had in fact married the girl, he relied on Annexure-1