Compelling minor to touch others’ genitalia is ‘aggravated sexual assault’ under Posco: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court ruled that forcing a minor to touch genitalia with sexual intent is aggravated sexual assault under the Pocso Act, affirming a seven-year sentence.

New Delhi

The court delivered the verdict on a man’s petition against a trial court’s July 2024 order, convicting and sentencing him to seven years under Section 10 of the Pocso Act. (Representative photo)

The Delhi High Court has held that compelling a minor to touch another person’s genitalia with sexual intent constitutes aggravated sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012.

The court delivered the verdict on a man’s petition against a trial court’s July 2024 order, convicting and sentencing him to seven years under Section 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of the Pocso Act for flashing a four-year-old girl and making her touch his genitalia in June 2022.

“Making a small child touch the private part with sexual intent amounts to aggravated sexual assault and therefore, the offence under Section 10 POCSO Act, was established,” a bench of justice Neena Bansal Krishna said in her verdict delivered on Monday.

In his petition in the high court, the man contended that the prosecution had failed to establish penetration or aggravated sexual contact through reliable evidence, as no injury was found on the victim. He also pointed to material contradictions and improvements in the statements of the victim and her mother, claimed the child’s statement was tutored, and highlighted a two-day delay in the registration of the FIR.

However, the court rejected the man’s contentions, observing that the core allegation of sexual assault remained consistent in the survivor’s testimonies, and minor variations in wording did not undermine her credibility.

The bench, in its 19-page ruling, further concluded that the absence of injury on a child’s genitalia could not be a factor to either discredit the victim or her mother’s testimony.