Saying 'I love you' not molestation or sexual offence: High Court acquits man convicted in case involving a teenager
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
HC says no proof of sexual intention
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
No evidence of molestation: High Court
The Bombay High Court has ruled that simply saying "I love you" does not amount to sexual intent under the law, acquitting a man who was convicted of molesting a 17-year-old girl in Nagpur in 2015. The man had been sentenced to three years in prison by a sessions court in 2017 under charges of molestation and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.A bench of Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke of the Nagpur bench said that words such as "I love you" alone do not indicate sexual intent as required under law for a conviction. The court passed the judgment on Monday, quashing the earlier conviction."Words expressed 'I love you' would not by itself amount to sexual intent as contemplated by the legislature," the court said.The court further stated, "If somebody says that he is in love with another person or expresses his feelings that in itself would not amount to an intent showing some sort of sexual intention."According to the police complaint, the man had approached the teenage girl when she was returning home from school. He allegedly held her hand, asked her name, and said "I love you". The girl then went home and informed her father, who lodged a First Information Report (FIR).A sessions court had found the man guilty under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act , sentencing him to three years in jail in 2017.The High Court observed that the accused's actions did not meet the legal definition of molestation or sexual harassment. The court said that a sexual act includes inappropriate touching, forcible disrobing, or indecent gestures or remarks made with the intent to insult a woman's modesty."Any sexual act includes inappropriate touching, forcible disrobing, indecent gestures or remarks made with an intent to insult the modesty of a woman," the order stated.In this case, the High Court found no evidence suggesting that the accused said 'I love you' with the aim of establishing sexual contact. The court held that without such intent, the offence under the POCSO Act and molestation charges could not stand.Source: PTI
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
30 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘In a position to pay more': Calcutta HC orders Mohammed Shami to pay Rs 4 lakh a month as interim maintenance to wife, daughter
Cricketer Mohammed Shami has been ordered by the Calcutta High Court to pay an interim amount of Rs 4 lakh per month as alimony to his estranged wife Hasin Jahan and their daughter. On Tuesday, Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee directed that Rs 1,50,000 be paid to the wife and Rs 2,50,000 to the daughter until the disposal of a case of alleged domestic violence against Shami. The court said that the amounts would 'be fair and reasonable to ensure financial stability for both the petitioners until the disposal of the main application'. '(The) amount is to be paid by the husband from the date of filing of the application under section 23 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (PWDV) Act,' the court said. In 2023, a district sessions court had ordered that Shami pay Rs 1.30 lakh a month in total to his wife and daughter. This order had been challenged by Shami's wife in the Calcutta High Court. The Calcutta HC Justice said in his order, 'It is not clear what was the basis of fixing the interim maintenance amounts (of) Rs 50,000 and Rs 80,000 in the context of the affidavit of assets and liabilities and other materials placed on record in support of (Shami's) income,' while also noting that the question of granting an 'excessive' amount of alimony and maintenance does not arise. Stating that Shami 'is in a position to pay a higher amount', the High Court said, 'The petitioner wife, who has remained unmarried and is living independently with the child, is entitled to a levelled maintenance that she enjoyed during her marriage which reasonably secures her future as well as the future of the child.' Speaking to The Indian Express, Hasin Jahan said, 'We are relieved at the order. As a father, if he gave the alimony before, it would have benefitted the child. Now, I can send her to a good school and give her all that she has been deprived of. He has never tried to communicate with his own daughter.' In her plea to the district sessions court in 2023, Jahan had sought Rs 10 lakh in total — Rs 7 lakh for herself and Rs 3 lakh for her daughter. Shami married Hasin Jahan in 2014. In 2018, Jahan had lodged an FIR at the Jadavpur police station against him and his family alleging 'physical and mental torture' under Section 12 of the PWDV Act and 'sustained indifference and neglect' of her minor daughter. She had also accused Shami of harassment for dowry, match fixing and avoiding 'responsibility' for her family's expenses.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Woman teacher from Mumbai school arrested for sexually assaulting 16-year-old male student
A 40-year-old woman teacher from a prominent school in Mumbai has been arrested for allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old male student, a police official said on Wednesday (July 2, 2025). The English language teacher, who is married, took the minor to luxury hotels where she allegedly abused him, the official said. 'The woman, who was taken into custody last week, was so obsessed with the minor that she tried to contact him even after he passed out of school this year,' police said. According to the police official, the accused became attracted to her student during various meetings in connection with the school's annual function in December 2023. She allegedly made her first sexual advance in January 2024. Police said a friend of the accused encouraged the then Class 10 boy to accept the illegal relationship, saying that affairs between older women and teenage boys had become quite common nowadays. The friend, who is also booked, would say that the woman teacher and the boy were 'made for teacher', the official said, citing the FIR. Soon after the accused teacher started taking the teenager to expensive hotels to sexually assault him, the student developed acute anxiety. She then allegedly gave him some anti-anxiety pills, the official said. The teacher would also often allegedly get the boy drunk before abusing him. The boy's family learnt about the exploitation after they noticed a change in his behaviour. However, they kept quiet, thinking he would finish school in a few months and the matter would end, the official said. The boy cleared his Class 10 exam a few months ago and left the school, but slipped into depression, said the official. His family decided to speak up when the accused again sent the boy a message, through their domestic staff, to meet her, the official said. The woman teacher has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Juvenile Justice Act, the official added.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Mumbai man arrested after 12-year-old neighbour records video as he makes obscene gestures at her
A 12-year-old girl in Mumbai got her 65-year-old neighbour arrested on Tuesday for sexually harassing her by making obscene gestures which the girl recorded and submitted to the police. Officers said the accused had retired after working at the post office. According to the police complaint filed by the girl's mother, the accused lived on the same floor of their residential building in Mumbai. As per the First Information Report (FIR), the incident took place in May. The minor was standing in the building's common passage area on the second floor when the accused made obscene gestures at her. It was also alleged that accused once touched her legs in an inappropriate manner while she was attending tuition classes at a neighbour's place. The girl informed her mother about the incident but was not taken seriously, prompting her to record a video of the accused as he made obscene gestures at her. Shocked to see the video, the mother showed the clip to her husband, and the two approached the N M Joshi Marg police station along with the girl, said a police source. The police acted swiftly and registered a case under sections 74 and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 8 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act against the accused. The man was subsequently arrested and served a notice before he was released, said an officer. The police are currently checking if the accused has molested any other child in the neighbourhood.
