The the act of holding the hands of a child and saying that they are beautiful cannot be considered an act of sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Meghalaya High Court has ruled.
The incident in question took place in 2020. The nine-year-old girl was asked by a man who was sitting with several others in a group for a glass of water. When the girl complied, the man took her by the hand and commented that her hands were beautiful. Subsequently, a complaint was registered against the man at Madanrting Police Station and a case under the POCSO Act was made out against him. The man then petitioned the High Court to quash the case.
The accused contended that merely because a 55-year-old man appreciates the hands of a young girl does not mean that there was an offence under any law. The state opposed the petition, saying that the incident had clearly affected the girl and that the accused had an ulterior motive in his actions.
Justice Wanlura Diengdoh referred to the relevant provisions of the POCSO Act as well as the judgment of the Supreme Court in Attorney General of India v. Satish & Anr and observed: “It is to be noted that the place of occurrence is located near the residence of the alleged victim girl. Near the place, a group of persons were playing cards and while she was playing the petitioner asked her for a glass of water to which she complied by bringing the said water to him. It is apparent that the place of occurrence is a public place with a number of people present and the alleged incident happened in broad daylight. The fact that the petitioner had held and commented on the hands of the alleged victim girl which contact is probably of a few seconds, the same cannot be read to imply that there is sexual intent on the part of the petitioner. At best, a non-sexual purpose of the contact can be presumed.”
The court was also of the opinion that the act of the accused “would not in any way amount to sexual intent and thereby, would not be considered an act of sexual assault.”
Continuing with the POCSO case against him would only be a “wastage of judicial time and the ends of justice would not be met”. Therefore, the petition was accepted and the case against the man was quashed.
