A rape accused married the victim in a temple inside the premises of the Jabalpur District and Sessions Court, on Tuesday. The rape trial has been going on in this court for the past two years. The marriage took place on a suggestion from the court and everyone from the government prosecutor to the defence lawyer played their part in getting the couple tie the knot.The parents of the accused, against the alliance, kept away but a number of bride’s relatives were present at the Hanuman temple where the marriage was solemnised. On January 17, Additional Sessions Judge D K Paliwal, presiding over the trial, had suggested that the couple tie the knot as they belong to the same community and village, and such an alliance would be in the interest of both. Defence lawyer Bhagwat Patel told The Indian Express on Wednesday that he had earlier argued before the court that the couple were in love and wanted to be married. He said he had argued on similar lines that led to Kamal, who owns a grocery shop in Chapari village, getting a bail after spending less than two weeks in jail.The victim was a minor when Kamal, who had promised to marry her, got her pregnant. Government prosecutor Umesh Vaidya said Kamal refused to marry the 16-year-old after she underwent an abortion at his insistence. Following Kamal’s refusal, the victim’s father lodged an FIR with the Katangi Police Station on May 24, 2005.Efforts were on to get the two families to agree to the marriage even after the girl’s and her father’s statement had been recorded before the court. Patel said the girl had told the court that she was in love with Kamal. Patel and Vaidya said they would request the court on January 27 to take a sympathetic view of the circumstances in which the alleged crime took place, and also take into account the fact that now they were married.On Tuesday, Kamal gave a written statement to the district superintendent of police and Katangi Police Station that he was marrying the girl, now major, of his own volition and was not under pressure to do so. Apparently, he was asked to do so to ensure that he does not abandon her after the court hands down its verdict after the trial. Against the alliance, Kamal’s father expressed his reservations. “What if the marriage doesn’t work and the entire family is blamed for it,’’ he told the lawyers before distancing himself from his son. The couple started living separately at a rented place immediately after their marriage.
