The Himachal Pradesh High Court has said in one of its decisions that sending a friend request on Facebook does not mean that she wants to have sex. It is not to be understood that by sending a friend request, the girl handed over her freedom and authority to the young man.
The High Court has said that it is common to live on social networking nowadays. People connect to social media sites for entertainment, networking, and information, not because someone spies or is sexually and mentally harassed. Most of the youth today are on social media and also active. In such a situation, it is not uncommon for him to send a friend request. Hence the belief that if children create accounts on social media, they do so in search of a sex partner.
Justice Anoop Chitkara made this remark while dismissing the bail plea of the accused of raping a minor. The accused youth contended that the girl had sent a friend request under her correct name, so he was assuming that she was over 18 years old and therefore she had sex with her consent, but the court rejected this argument has made.
The court found that the minimum age to create a Facebook account is 13 years. The court has also said that it is not unusual that people do not disclose everything about their age and identity as it is a public platform. The court said that if the girl has registered the wrong age on Facebook, then it should not be considered absolutely right. In such a situation, it cannot be assumed that the girl is not a minor but an adult.
The court also said that when the accused had seen the victim, it must have been understood that she is not 18 years old as the victim was only 13 years and three months old. The court refused to accept the defense of the accused. It also said that since the girl was a minor, her consent does not matter.