SHILLONG, JUN 15: Meghalaya High Court has set aside a nearly eight-year-old POCSO case after the survivor and her mother told the bench that the survivor is living with the accused as his wife and the couple has a seven-year-old daughter.
Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere on June 13, 2026 heard the petition filed by Labianglang Sumer, who sought quashing Lumdiengjri Police Station FIR No. 29(04)2018.
The FIR was registered when the survivor’s mother, Leshmi Dhar, complained after learning her then 16-year-old daughter was pregnant.
A chargesheet followed and the matter was pending before the Special POCSO Court, East Khasi Hills.
Both Leshmi Dhar and the survivor appeared before the court. Identified by counsel S Sen, the mother told the bench her daughter was “happily staying with the petitioner” and that the petitioner was supporting them and their child.
The survivor, impleaded as respondent No. 3 during the hearing, said the relationship was consensual and that they had been “staying together as husband and wife since 2023.”
She also stated she had not availed compensation under any government scheme.
Counsel for the survivor and complainant confirmed to the court that the parties had no objection to the proceedings being quashed.
In her oral judgment, Chief Justice Dere referred to the High Court’s March 2026 decision in Shalenbor Wahlang v. State of Meghalaya, noting that courts in Meghalaya often see “adolescent consensual relationships culminating in elopement and early marriage or living together, as husband and wife, which is recognised by the society.”
The bench highlighted the state’s matrilineal tradition among Khasi, Garo and Jaintia communities, where “lineage and inheritance pass through the mother” and women have “freedom to select their partners, remarry without shame and take an active role in public places.”
The court said that while POCSO is a special law protecting children, “rendering justice demands not only that the law be applied with precision, but also that it be tempered with fairness, compassion and empathy.”
It observed that “where the victim and the boy are married or are living together as husband and wife, and have a child/children, sending the boy to jail would not serve the cause of justice, rather it would cause great injustice to the victim and the child.”
Quashing the FIR and the pending Special POCSO Case No. 31 of 2020, the bench directed the survivor to approach the DCPO, East Khasi Hills and the Secretary, DLSA for benefits under schemes including Nirbhaya Fund for POCSO victims, Mission Vatsalya, Meghalaya Victim Compensation Scheme 2022, Ayushman Bharat-PM-JAY and education support programmes.
The DCPO and DLSA Secretary were asked to assist her and her child in accessing entitlements.
Also Read: Bihar Assembly’s Subordinate Legislation Committee studies Meghalaya’s Legislative practices
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