Touching Female Students Inappropriately On Back & Neck, Making Comments About Their Dress Will Attract S. 7 POCSO Act: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has observed that a teacher's inappropriate physical contact with female students, along with comments about their attire, would constitute an offence under Section 7 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012, which punishes acts of 'Sexual assault'. A bench of Justice Rakesh Kainthla noted that the physical contact made by the accused teacher with the girls, coupled with the words uttered by him, can only lead to one inference that the touch was with sexual intent, which is an essential ingredient for the commission of Section 7 of the 2012 Act. The case in brief The Principal of Government Senior Secondary School (in District Sirmour) received a complaint regarding the sexual harassment of a girl. The matter was referred to the Sexual Harassment Committee; however, the girl and her parents did not appear before the Committee. However, since the matter involved the sexual harassment of a girl, a request was made to the police to take action as per law. The police conducted the investigation, and it was found that 21 female students had objected to the behaviour of the accused. The police recorded the statements of about 20 girls, who stated that the accused used to utter double-meaning words and touch the girls on their backs, cheeks, etc., which made them uncomfortable. Given these allegations, the accused was arrested, and the police prepared a challan and presented it before the Court for the commission of offences punishable under Section 354-A of IPC and Section 10 of the POCSO Act. Seeking quashing of the FIR, the teacher-accused moved the High Court, arguing that he has served in the school for 22 years and won many awards from various institutions. It was submitted that sexual harassment was not even mentioned, and the principal had erred in referring the complaint to the Sexual Harassment Committee. The Committee also did not carry out any investigation, and the principal referred the matter to the police. It was also contended that no offence is made against the petitioner, even if the FIR allegations are taken to be true. Therefore, it was prayed that the present petition be allowed and the FIR be quashed. On the other hand, the AAG for the state argued that the police found after investigation that the accused had sexually assaulted the female students, and the allegations in the charge sheet constitute the commission of an offence punishable under Section 7 of the POCSO Act. Therefore, he prayed that the present petition be dismissed.High Court's order Examining the allegations against the accused, the Court noted that the accused was a teacher of physics and had no concern with reproduction and, therefore, touching female students inappropriately on their back, cheek and neck and making comments about himself and about the dress of the girl would constitute the commission of an offence punishable under Section 7 of the POCSO Act. Against this backdrop, holding that the allegations made by the girls in their statements under Section 161 CrPC duly establish a prima facie commission of the offence punishable under Section 7 of the POCSO Act, the Court refused to quash the FIR. Case title - Rakesh Kumar Bansal vs. State of H.P. and others Case citation: 2024 LiveLaw (HP) 38 Click here To Read/Download Order

Touching Female Students Inappropriately On Back & Neck, Making Comments About Their Dress Will Attract S. 7 POCSO Act: HP High Court

Sparsh Upadhyay

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