'Is this even true?' ask celebs on HC's 'no sexual assault if no skin contact' order

Celebrities of the film industry expressed dismay following an order issued by the Bombay High Court citing lack of ‘skin-to-skin contact’ for modifying the punishment to a convict in a sexual assault case. They shared their contrary opinion after the court held that on account of absence of details on whether the accused man ‘removed the top’ or put his ‘hand inside to press her breast’, he could not be convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The celebrities asked if the laws were for ‘the molester’ and paved the way for ‘every sexual offender’. 

READ: Groping Without 'skin To Skin' Contact Is Not Sexual Assault, Rules Bombay High Court

Bollywood celebrities unhappy over Bombay HC order on sexual assault

Actors Soni Razdan, Kriti Kharbanda, Angad Bedi, singer Chinmayi Sripaada were among those who tweeted their displeasure. Asking it was indeed true or ‘just for reaction’, and calling it ‘beyond shocking’ and ‘beyond comprehension’, they sought that the law be challenged.

Bombay HC order on sexual assault

As per PTI, a sessions court had convicted a 39-year-old man named Satish to three years of imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old in 2016. Justice Pushpa Ganediwala of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court observed he taken her to his home in Nagpur on the pretext of giving her something, before groping her and attempting to remove her clothes.

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In the order passed on January 19, the judge observed that in the absence of ‘skin to skin contact’, groping a minor’s breast could not be defined as an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

"The act of pressing of breast of the child aged 12 years, in the absence of any specific detail as to whether the top was removed or whether he inserted his hand inside the top and pressed her breast, would not fall in the definition of sexual assault," it said.

The HC added, "Admittedly, it is not the case of the prosecution that the appellant removed her top and pressed her breast. As such, there is no direct physical contact i.e. skin to skin with sexual intent without penetration."

Instead, the judge held him guilty of outraging the modesty of a woman, under IPC section 354. Sexual assault under the POCSO Act defines a minimum imprisonment of three years, while section 354 entails a minimum sentence of imprisonment for one year. The HC sentenced him to one-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of  Rs 500.

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