The Delhi High Court has cleared a man in a POCSO case, stating that the phrase ‘physical relations’ used by the minor victim does not necessarily imply sexual assault.
A panel of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma granted the appeal of the accused, who received a life sentence, and noted that it was not evident how the trial court determined that sexual assault occurred when the survivor had willingly accompanied the accused.
The court stated that the transition from physical interactions or ‘samband’ to sexual assault and subsequently to penetrative sexual assault must be supported by evidence and cannot simply be inferred.
“The simple circumstance that the survivor is under 18 years does not permit a conclusion that penetrative sexual assault occurred.” “The survivor actually employed the term ‘physical relations’, but it’s unclear what she intended by this phrase,” the court stated in the ruling issued on December 23.
“Merely using the phrase ‘samband banaya’ is inadequate to prove an offence under Section 3 of the POCSO Act or Section 376 IPC.” While consent is irrelevant if the girl is a minor according to the POCSO Act, the term ‘physical relations’ cannot be automatically interpreted as sexual intercourse, much less as sexual assault,” it stated.
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The court stated that the presumption of innocence should favor the accused and thus concluded, “The contested judgment entirely lacks reasoning and fails to provide or justify any rationale for the conviction.” In such situations, the ruling may be overturned. The defendant is found not guilty.
The complaint in this matter was filed in March 2017 by the mother of the minor girl, claiming that an unidentified individual had lured and abducted her 14-year-old daughter from their residence.
The minor was discovered in Faridabad alongside the perpetrator, who was apprehended and later convicted for rape under IPC and penetrative sexual assault under POCSO in December 2023, ultimately receiving a life sentence.
