The Calcutta High Court on Friday suspended an earlier decision by a West Bengal trial court that had found an accused guilty under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The High Court said that an attempt to “grope the breasts” of a victim can only be charged as “aggravated sexual assault” and not as “attempt to rape” under the Act.
Earlier, the trial court had found the accused guilty of both “aggravated sexual assault” and “attempt to rape” and sentenced him to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment.
While hearing the appeal, a division bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Biswaroop Chowdhury also noted that the victim’s medical report showed no signs of penetration or even an attempt at penetration.
The court mentioned that, according to the victim’s statement, the accused tried to ‘grope her breasts’ while he was drunk.
Court says evidence points to aggravated sexual assault, not attempted rape
The division bench said, “Such evidence may support a charge of aggravated sexual assault under Section 10 of the POCSO Act, 2012, but prima facie does not indicate commission of the offence of attempted rape.”
The court also said that if, after the final hearing, the charges are reduced to only “aggravated sexual assault” instead of both “aggravated sexual assault” and “attempt to rape,” then the jail term for the convict would also come down. Instead of 12 years, the punishment would be between five and seven years, which is the range for “aggravated sexual assault.”
In this case, the convict has already spent 28 months in jail.
The bench ordered that the conviction and sentence will stay suspended until the appeal is decided or until further orders, whichever comes first. It also paused the payment of the fine until the appeal is finished.
However, the division bench made it clear that their observations should not affect the final decision on the appeal.
Similar Decision Was Taken by Allahbad High Court
A month ago, The Allahabad High Court said that grabbing a girl’s breasts, breaking her pajama string, and trying to drag her a culvert is not enough to charge someone with rape or attempt to rape. The court explained that for an attempt to rape, the crime must go beyond just preparing for it. Since the accused did not go beyond the preparation stage, the charges for rape were dropped. Instead, the case will continue under lighter charges like assault with intent to disrobe.
