Sexual harassment cannot be done without touching: Bombay High Court

The Supreme Court has stayed the judgment of Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court in which an accused was acquitted of the offense of sexual harassment because the bench did not consider sexual harassment to 'touch the body without taking off clothes'.

India's Attorney General KK Venugopal said in the Supreme Court on Wednesday that for sexual harassment cases, "this decision of the High Court is disturbing, and sets a wrong precedent."

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Sexual harassment cannot be proved without touch, the Bombay High Court verdict has sparked controversy. The court has held the accused of sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl to be guilty of breaching the dignity of a woman.

The case belongs to the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, where the accused appealed by the Sessions Court challenging the conviction of Poxo and Section 354 of the IPC in a case. The High Court justified his conviction, but only under Section 354. He was acquitted of Poxo's charge.

The entire case is based on a complaint of a 12-year-old girl living in Nagpur. The victim alleged that the man tricked her into her home and then forcibly placed her hand on her chest and tried to undress her. On this occasion, the victim's parents came there and that person could not do any other action.

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In his judgment, Pushp Ganediwala, a judge of the Nagpur bench of the High Court, said that "clamping the breast can use criminal force in an attempt to breach the dignity of a woman / girl," but it is referred to as sexual harassment under POCSO The matter cannot be said.

The dispute is on the court's deliberation under which Justice Ganeediwala said that touch is necessary to prove sexual harassment, but in this case the information about touching the victim by removing the clothes or putting his hand inside his clothes is in detail. Is not available from The judge said that because there is a severe punishment for such an allegation under Poxo, more stringent evidence and more serious allegations are needed to prove this charge.

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According to Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, "If a person forcibly attacks a woman with the intention of violating her shame, she can be punished for a minimum of one year and a maximum of five years."

According to section seven of the Poxo statute, "If a person touches a child's genitals or chest with sexual intent, or forces a child to touch his or her other person's genitals or chest with sexual intent, or someone else Works in which any kind of physical relationship is made without penetration, he will be considered guilty of sexual harassment. "

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