New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court has acquitted a person in a POCSO case, saying the usage of the phrase “bodily relations” by the minor survivor can’t robotically imply sexual assault.
A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma allowed the enchantment by the accused, who was given imprisonment for the remainder of his life, and noticed that it was unclear how the trial courtroom concluded that there was any sexual assault when the survivor had voluntarily gone with the accused.
The courtroom asserted that the leap from bodily relations or “samband” to sexual assault after which to penetrative sexual assault have to be established by proof and can’t be deduced as an inference.
“The mere undeniable fact that the survivor is beneath 18 years can’t result in a conclusion that there was penetrative sexual assault. The survivor, in actual fact, used the phrase ‘bodily relations’, however there isn’t a readability as to what she meant by utilizing the stated phrase,” the courtroom stated within the judgment handed on December 23.
“Even the usage of the phrases ‘samband banaya’ shouldn’t be adequate to ascertain an offence beneath Section 3 of the POCSO Act or beneath Section 376 IPC. Though consent wouldn’t matter if the woman is a minor beneath the POCSO Act, the phrase ‘bodily relations’ can’t be transformed robotically into sexual activity not to mention sexual assault,” it held.
The courtroom stated the advantage of doubt should be in favour of the accused and, subsequently, dominated, “The impugned judgement utterly lacks any reasoning and in addition doesn’t reveal or help any rationale for the conviction. Under such circumstances, the judgment is liable to be put aside. The appellant is acquitted”.
The criticism on this case was lodged in March 2017 by the minor woman’s mom, alleging that her 14-year-old daughter had been lured and kidnapped from her dwelling by an unknown particular person.
The minor was present in Faridabad together with the accused, who was arrested and subsequently convicted for offence of rape beneath IPC and penetrative sexual assault beneath POCSO in December 2023 and later awarded imprisonment for the rest of his life.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)