December 29th 2024.
In a recent case in New Delhi, the Delhi High Court made a decision to acquit a man who was accused of violating the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The court ruled that the use of the phrase "physical relations" by the underage survivor did not automatically mean that she had been sexually assaulted.
The bench, comprising of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma, carefully considered the appeal made by the accused, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment. They observed that the trial court's conclusion of sexual assault was unclear, especially since the survivor had voluntarily accompanied the accused.
The court emphasized that there needed to be concrete evidence to prove that the physical relations mentioned by the survivor had escalated into penetrative sexual assault. They stated that it could not be assumed as an inference without proper proof. Simply being under the age of 18 did not automatically mean that the survivor had been subjected to sexual assault. In fact, the court pointed out that the survivor had used the phrase "physical relations" but did not specify what she meant by it.
The use of the phrase "samband banaya" (made a relationship) was also considered insufficient to prove an offence under the POCSO Act or the Indian Penal Code (IPC). While consent would not matter if the girl is a minor under the POCSO Act, the court clarified that the phrase "physical relations" could not automatically be converted into sexual intercourse, let alone sexual assault.
Based on these grounds, the court ruled in favor of the accused and declared, "The impugned judgement completely lacks any reasoning and also does not reveal or support any rationale for the conviction. Under such circumstances, the judgement is liable to be set aside. The appellant is acquitted."
The complaint in this case was filed in March 2017 by the minor girl's mother, who alleged that her 14-year-old daughter had been lured and kidnapped by an unknown person from their home. The minor was found in Faridabad with the accused, who was arrested and later convicted for rape and penetrative sexual assault in December 2023. He was then sentenced to life imprisonment.
PTI (Press Trust of India) reported on this case, highlighting the court's decision to acquit the accused and the reasoning behind it.
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