The Supreme Court on Tuesday suo motu cognizance of a recent controversial order by the Allahabad High Court which ruled that mere grabbing of a minor girl’s breasts and pulling the string of a pyjama do not amount to offence of rape.
A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Augustine George Masih will hear the matter on Wednesday.
Earlier, a separate bench comprising Justices Bela Trivedi and Prasanna B. Varale had dismissed a petition, saying that the court was not inclined to entertain it.
What was the high court order?
In its order on Match 17, the Allahabad High Court ruled that mere grabbing of the breasts of a woman and pulling her 'pyjama' string do not amount to the offence of rape. Such crimes, however, fall under the lesser charge of aggravated sexual assault, punishable under Section 354(B) IPC and Section 9(m) of the POCSO Act, the court said.
Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra observed that the specific allegation against the accused was that he tried to drag the victim beneath the culvert and broke the string of her pyjama. “It is also not stated by witnesses that due to this act of the accused the victim got naked or got undressed. There is no allegation that accused tried to commit penetrative sexual assault against the victim," the court said.
The high court order came on a petition filed by two accused persons in the case who had challenged a special court order summoning them under Section 376 of IPC and other sections.
What was the case about?
The alleged incident took place on November 10, 2021 when three men—Pawan, Akash and Ashok—offered a lift to the victim on their motorcycle.
The three accused later allegedly stopped their motorcycle on a muddy way to her village and started grabbing her breasts. According to the complaint, Akash dragged her and tried to take her beneath the culvert and pulled the string of her pyjama.
After recording the statement of the victim and the witnesses, the trial court summoned the accused for offence of rape.
