SC stays Bombay High Court order terming groping minor's breast as not sexual assault

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court stayed a recent Bombay High Court order which said that “groping a minor's breast without "skin to skin contact" cannot be termed as sexual assault”.

The apex court also issued notice to the Maharashtra government and permitted the AG to file an appeal against the January 19 verdict of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court which acquitted a man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on the above-mentioned observations.

A sessions court had previously held a 39-year-old man guilty of sexual assault for groping a 12-year-old and attempting to remove her salwar.

However, the Bombay High Court modified the order of the sessions court and sentenced the man under Section 354 IPC (outraging a woman’s modesty), observing that there was no “specific detail” as to whether the minor’s top was removed and there was any skin-to-skin contact.

“Considering the stringent nature of punishment provided for the offence, in the opinion of this Court, stricter proof and serious allegations are required.”

The court also added: “The act of pressing breast can be a criminal force to a woman/girl with the intention to outrage her modesty.”

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The order, however, had caused outrage and many had questioned the logic behind the court's conclusion.

When this verdict was available for the public, immense backlash ensued against not only the judgment but how a woman could put forward the fact that touching any woman even on her clothing without her consent is sexual assault.

While some called it the birth of eve-teasing in India, some wanted this to be called fake news.

Even citizens were extremely disturbed at this verdict and the precedent this would set for men to casually touch women as they please.