Overview
- Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi held that holding and pulling a girl while saying “I love you” amounts to assault intended to outrage a woman’s modesty under Section 354 IPC.
- The court overturned the POCSO conviction because the prosecution did not produce original age proof such as school records or a birth certificate.
- Taking into account the accused’s age of 19 at the time and the limited scope of the act, the High Court reduced the sentence from three years’ rigorous imprisonment to one year.
- The accused, currently on bail, was directed to surrender before the trial court to serve the remaining portion of the sentence.
- The judgment defined ‘modesty’ with dictionary references and precedent, called the conduct highly objectionable in a rural setting, and noted corroboration of the victim’s account by her sister and a friend.