Kissing on the lips is not unnatural sex: Bombay HC grants bail to POCSO accused, saying – loving someone is not a crime

The Bombay High Court, while granting bail to an accused in the POCSO Act, said kissing on the lips or making love is not an unnatural sex offence. A man was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old child. The man was booked under sections 377, 384, 420 and sections 8 and 12 (sexual harassment) of the Indian Panel Court.

The accused had filed a petition in the High Court for bail. Hearing the case, Justice Anuja Prabhudesai granted bail to the accused, not calling it a crime.

Court said – the petitioner is entitled to bail
Justice Anuja Prabhudesai said, the statement of the victim and the FIR shows that the petitioner kissed the victim on the lips and touched her private parts. It is prima facie an offense under section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The court said that under sections 8 and 12 of POCSO, the offender in this case is punished with imprisonment of up to 5 years. The petitioner was in custody for one year. Charges against him have not yet been framed and trial is not likely to start at the moment. As such, he is entitled to bail.

The court gave this instruction to the accused
The court has directed the petitioner to deposit a personal bond of Rs 30,000 along with surety. Also, he will report to the police station once in every 2 months. The court said, the accused shall not pressurize the complainant or the witnesses or tamper with the evidence. The accused shall cooperate in the conduct of the trial and shall appear in the trial court room on all dates.

Son told, I was sexually abused
The victim’s father had filed a case of sexual abuse with the son. Father said, some money was missing from my cupboard. On asking his son about this, he came to know that he plays online games. For this, he goes to a neighboring shop for recharge. He got it recharged by withdrawing money from the cupboard. The son also told that one day the shopkeeper sexually assaulted him.

No rape without skin to skin touch, the verdict
Earlier, Justice Ganediwala of Bombay High Court had given a similar decision in the case of POCSO Act. If there is no ‘direct physical contact, i.e. skin to skin touch’ between the accused and the victim, it will not amount to the offense of sexual harassment under Section 7 of the POCSO Act, he said. There was a lot of protest against this decision across the country. In November, the Supreme Court had set aside these decisions of the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court.