Srinagar, April 24 -- Srinagar- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh on Friday set aside conviction of a man from Kulgam in a rape case, holding that the prosecution failed to prove that the prosecutrix was a minor at the time of the incident.

A bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar, while allowing the appeal filed by Yawar A Bhagat, set aside the trial court's judgment and sentence order passed in March last year, awarding eight years' imprisonment under Section 376 RPC in case registered in 2018.

The trial court had acquitted the accused of kidnapping charges but convicted him for rape on the ground that the prosecutrix was below 18 years of age, making her consent immaterial. However, the High Court found that the prosecution had failed to conclu...