Oral Sex With Minor Not Aggravated Sexual Assault Under POCSO: Allahabad High Court

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The Logical Indian Crew

Oral Sex With Minor Not 'Aggravated Sexual Assault' Under POCSO: Allahabad High Court

Back in 2018, a lower court in Jhansi had convicted an accused under the POCSO Act's Section 6 and under sections 377 and 507 of the IPC and had sentenced him to imprisonment for 10 years.

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While cutting down the jail time of an accused to seven years from 10, the Allahabad High Court on November 22 stated that 'oral sex' with a minor can not come under 'aggravated sexual assault' under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Oral sex with a minor is not aggravated sexual assault and only a "lesser" offence, the court.

What Is The Case?

According to a report in TimesNews, the above-mentioned case pertains to a 10-year-old Jhansi victim who was forced by the accused to perform oral sex. While the lower court had sentenced the accused individual under POCSO Act's section 5/6 for causing 'aggravated sexual assault', the high court announced that this act only amounts to 'penetrative sexual assault'. Due to this, the accused now falls under the POCSO Act's Section 4, warranting to seven years prison time.

"Putting penis into mouth does not fall in the category of aggravated sexual assault or sexual assault. It comes into category of penetrative sexual assault which is punishable under Section 4 of POCSO Act," a Single Judge Bench of Justice Anil Kumar Ojha of the High Court concluded.

Back in 2018, a lower court in Jhansi had convicted the individual under the POCSO Act's Section 6 and under sections 377 and 507 of the IPC and had sentenced him to imprisonment for 10 years.

The accused decided to challenge the conviction by the lower court and had pleaded before the Allahabad High Court that the offence under the POCSO Act's section 6 was not made out against him.

Justice Anil Kumar Ojha, while speaking on the matter, said: "From the perusal of the provisions of POCSO Act, it is clear that offence committed by appellant neither falls under Section 5/6 of POCSO Act nor under Section 9(M) of POCSO Act because there is 'penetrative sexual assault' in the present case."

He further stated that the crime does not fall under the category of sexual assault or 'aggravated sexual assault' and comes under the 'penetrative sexual assault' category, which is punishable under the POCSO Act's Section 4.

"After going through the records and provisions of POCSO Act, I am of the considered opinion that the appellant should be punished under section 4 of POCSO Act because the act done by appellant falls in the category of penetrative sexual assault," the judge further added.

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