Holding Minor's Hand, Professing Love is Not Sexual Harassment, Rules POCSO Court, Acquits 28-Yr-Old

In yet another hearing of a case of sexual intimation towards a minor, the POCSO court acquitted a 28-year-year old man on grounds that holding a minor’s hand and professing love to her did not amount to sexual harassment.

The accused who was booked and arrested after he proposed to a 17-year-old girl in 2017 was released after a special POCSO court held that there was no evidence to show that the accused had any sexual intent.

Pronouncing its judgement, the court observed that there was no significant evidence hinting at the fact that the accused had persistently followed her, accosted her in an isolated place or had used criminal force with the intention to outrage the modesty of the minor.

“I find that the prosecution has not been able to bring evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused has committed acts as alleged. Hence, the accused is entitled to benefit of the doubt and subsequently for his acquittal,” the court said.

Notably, this is not the first instance where holding a child’s hand was ruled out as a sexual offence. Earlier, the Bombay high court had reversed the conviction of a 50-year-old man under Sections 8 and 10 of the POCSO Act for allegedly molesting a 5-year-old girl, ruling that unzipping his pants and holding hands of a minor do not come under the definition of ‘sexual assault’.

The case was filed on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim’s mother who claimed that the accused had held her elder daughter’s hands, unzipped his pants and had asked the victim to join him in bed while her parents were away from home.

Justice Pushpa Ganediwala while pronouncing her judgement had held that groping a 12-year-old minor’s breasts without removing her clothes wasn’t a ‘sexual assault’ as there was no skin-to-skin contact.

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