Indian court rules groping without taking-off clothes isn’t sexual assault

The Bombay High Court has observed that groping a child’s breasts without “skin-to-skin contact” does not amount to sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Live Law reported on Sunday.

It would, however, fall within the ambit of Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises outraging the modesty of a woman, the Nagpur Bench of the court said.

A single bench of Justice Pushpa Ganediwala made the observations while modifying an order by a sessions court that held a 39-year-old man guilty of sexual assault. The accused had allegedly taken a 12-year-old to his house on the pretext of giving her guava, and had pressed her breast and attempted to remove her salwar, according to Bar and Bench.

The accused was convicted by the trial court for offences punishable under POCSO Act and the IPC. He approached the High Court challenging the conviction.