Recently, the Bombay High Court’s shocking judgment left many disappointed. As per the judgment, the Bombay High Court said that groping a minor’s breast without “skin to skin contact” cannot be termed as sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
While the Supreme Court stayed the Bombay High Court’s order after the uproar another shocking judgment by the same judge has surfaced that left many disgusted.
As per another shocking ruling, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has held that “the act of holding a girl’s hands and opening the zip of pants will not come under the definition of sexual assault” under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012. Instead, the act comes under the ambit of “sexual harassment” under Section 354-A (1) (i) of the Indian Penal Code, observed the bench.
As per News18, this ruling was pronounced by a single bench of Justice Pushpa Ganediwala in a criminal appeal against the conviction and sentence awarded to a 50-year-old man for molesting a five-year-old girl.
The Session Court convicted the man and ruled it to be “aggravated sexual assault” punishable under Section 10 of POCSO. The session court sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 25,000. But, the High Court set aside his conviction under Sections 8, 10, and 12 of the POCSO Act, but held him guilty under Section 354A (1) (i) IPC, which carries a maximum imprisonment of three years.
What happened?
On the basis of the complaint lodged by the victim’s mother, the police registered the case. As per the victim’s mother, when she saw the accused, his pants zip was opened and he was holding the hands of her daughter. The mother also testified that her daughter informed her about the accused removing his penis from the pants and asking her to come to bed for sleeping.
The Nagpur bench observed that the case comes under the gambit of “sexual harassment” and not “sexual assault”.
While considering the appeal, the Nagpur bench observed that the case comes under the purview of “sexual harassment” and not “sexual assault”. The judge noted the definition of “sexual assault” under Section 7 of the POCSO says,
“Sexual assault – Whoever, with sexual intent touches the vagina, penis, anus or breast of the child or makes the child touch the vagina, penis, anus or breast of such person or any other person, or does any other Act with sexual intent which involves physical contact without penetration is said to commit sexual assault”.
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As there was no physical contact, the court observed that it wasn’t sexual assault. The High Court said:
“Since no actual touching of the private parts of the body happened in the case, the act will come under the ambit of the third part of the definition: any other Act with sexual intent which involves physical contact without penetration,”
The ruling once again left many of us disappointed.
A 5-yr-old girl deserved better protection from the Honourable High Court. https://t.co/gAi9YlVgkX
— jyoti punwani (@jyotipunwani) January 28, 2021
How on earth is this judge in High Court? Hell, how is the person a judge in the first place?! https://t.co/RhLon5wryF
— Divya Bhandari Kamra (@foodie_woman_) January 28, 2021
In the country, where we are trying hard to keep our kids safe from the sex-deprived monsters, rulings like such can set a very dangerous precedent. With such judgments, how could we promise our little kids and young daughters a safer country to live in?
