Chambers of Ishaan Garg
Ch. No. 217, Western Wing, District & Sessions Court, Tis Hazari, New Delhi, Delhi 110054
+91 8851742417, +91 8800386163
The Delhi High Court has ruled that a simple act of touch cannot be considered as manipulation for the offence of penetrative sexual assault under Section 3(c) of the POCSO Act.
Section 3(c) of the POCSO Act states that a person is said to commit "penetrative sexual assault" if he manipulates any part of the child’s body so as to cause penetration into the vagina, urethra, anus or any other body part or makes the child to do so with him or any other person.
A simple act of touch cannot be considered to be manipulation under Section 3(c) of the Act. It is relevant to note that under Section 7 of the POCSO Act, ‘touch’ is a separate offence. If the submission raised by the learned APP that a touch would amount to manipulation is accepted, then Section 7 of the Act would be rendered redundant,” Justice Amit Bansal observed.
The court made the observation while dealing with a plea moved by a man challenging his conviction and 10 years of sentence for raping a six year old girl.
He was convicted in 2020 for the offences punishable under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act, 2012.
Justice Bansal observed that the offence under Section 6 of the POCSO Act was not proved against the convict beyond all reasonable doubt. However, the court added that the offence of aggravated sexual assault under Section 10 was proved against him beyond all reasonable doubt.
Section 3(c) of the POCSO Act shows that for an act to be a penetrative sexual assault, the accused has to manipulate any part of the body of the child so as to cause penetration. There is nothing in the present case to show that there was any manipulation on any part of the body of the victim so as to cause penetration...Therefore, the appeal is partially allowed and the impugned judgment is modified to the extent that instead of Section 6 of the POCSO Act, the appellant stands convicted under Section 10 of the POCSO Act,” the court held.
“A perusal of Section 3(c) of the POCSO Act shows that for an act to be a penetrative sexual assault, the accused has to manipulate any part of the body of the child so as to cause penetration. There is nothing in the present case to show that there was any manipulation on any part of the body of the victim so as to cause penetration,” the court said.
Title: SHANTANU v. THE STATE 2023 Del HC
