The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, while quashing the conviction of a 28-year-old man, has remarked that merely moving the hand over the back and head of a minor girl without any sexual intent does not amount to outraging her modesty. Justice Dangre noted there was no sexual intent on the part of the convict and that his utterance indicated he had seen the victim as a child.
“In order to outrage the modesty of a woman, what is most important is having an intention to outrage the modesty. It is not the case of the prosecution that the accused did something more than what has been alleged, that is, moving his hand over the back and head of the victim,” observed the bench.
"Victim didn’t speak of any bad intention on his part"
The HC was hearing an appeal filed by the man challenging his conviction by the special court, which sentenced him to six months in jail.
On March 15, 2012, the man was 18 years old and visited the victim’s house to give some documents. The girl, then 12 years old, was alone and he touched her back and head and said she has grown up. She had felt uncomfortable and shouted for help.
Setting aside his conviction, the HC added, “The victim girl, aged 12-13 years, didn’t speak of any bad intention on his part. What she deposed, though, is that she felt bad or indicated some unpleasant act, which made her uncomfortable.”
The court further added that the prosecution failed to produce any material to show there was a specific intention on part of the appellant to outrage the modesty of the girl.
“In absence of a specific intention being established by the prosecution to outrage the modesty, it is not understood as to how Section 354 has been invoked and even held to be proved, with the specific version that the victim was frightened at the accused touching her on her back and saying that she has grown up," the court said.
In its order, the HC said the trial court had erred as the present case, prima facie, appeared to be an impromptu action with no sexual intent.
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