The 640-page charge sheet was filed before a POCSO court on Tuesday under Section 12 of POCSO (punishment for committing sexual harassment upon a child) and sections of the Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, court sources said.
Justice Jasmeet Singh noted that arguments in court proceedings include assertions doubting the victim's integrity and character while she is forced to be present in the same space as the person who has allegedly violated her.
The intention behind POCSO Act is to protect children from sexual exploitation but it was never meant to criminalise consensual romantic relationships between young adults, the Delhi high court has said.
A special court in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur on Tuesday sentenced a PhD scholar to five life imprisonments, to be served concurrently, for sexually assaulting minors and posting videos of the acts on the Internet to make money, officials said.
A Class 10 student allegedly raped his eight-year-old neighbour in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district, police said on Saturday.
The high court said the psychological impact on a POCSO case victim being present in court during the arguments is grave.
A teacher has been arrested for allegedly sexually harassing 24 girl students at a government school in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, officials said on Monday.
Sources said the Law Commission held a meeting with the government and sought some information on the matter of age of consent.
The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the Bombay high court verdict which had held that no offence of sexual assault under the POCSO Act is made out if there is no direct skin-to-skin contact between an accused and victim.
A Delhi court on Friday ordered framing of charges against former Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case lodged by six female wrestlers.
Delhi police arrest 13 individuals, including minors, for the murder and sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy, allegedly in retaliation for informing on a rival gang member.
A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced a man to 20 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping a minor girl in 2021, relying on the deposition of the six-year-old victim and other prosecution witnesses.
The order was passed by Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra on a revision petition filed by two persons who moved the court, challenging the order of a Special Judge of Kasganj by which the court had summoned them under Section 376 of IPC apart from other sections.
Legal experts had deplored the observation of the Allahabad high xourt on what constitutes a rape charge, calling for a restraint by judges and underlining the drop in public confidence in the judiciary due to such statements.
The court of special judge (POCSO), west session division, Yupia also sentenced two others to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment each for their involvement in the case.
The Supreme Court has said that grounds like "there was a love affair" between the girl and the accused and there was alleged "refusal to marry" will have no bearing on the grant of bail in a POCSO case.
A special court in India has sentenced a man to "triple death sentence" for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl last year. The court deemed the crime "rarest of rare" and declared the accused "extremely cruel and bestial." His mother and sister were also sentenced to two years in prison for helping to cover up the crime.
Bombay high court judge Justice Pushpa Ganediwala, who faced flak over a series of judgments that were deemed as controversial for the interpretation of what constitutes as 'sexual assault' under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, has resigned.
The Delhi Police on Friday registered two FIRs in connection with sexual harassment allegations levelled by women wrestlers against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
"Consensual sex has been in legal grey area because the consent given by minor cannot be said to be a valid consent in the eyes of law. The short question which arises is as to whether the petitioner (man) should be granted bail or not," the Delhi HC said.
A court in Kerala has sentenced five men from Uttar Pradesh to life imprisonment and an additional 40 years in prison for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl from Kerala five years ago. The accused, who were migrant workers residing near the victim's home, were involved in the crime that occurred in 2020. They enticed the girl with the promise of a SIM card and then subjected her to sexual assault at various locations. The court also directed the convicts to pay compensation to the victim.
Justice Ganediwala this month acquitting a 39-year-old man for groping a minor girl, noting that there was no "skin-to-skin contact with sexual intent" has faced severe flak.
The survivor's father claimed the family had been cheated by their lawyer who did not file an objection to Asaram's bail plea despite getting all the papers ready.
Justice Pushpa Ganediwala recently acquitted a man accused of groping a 12-year-old girl's breast because he did not make skin-to-skin contact and days earlier, ruled that holding the hands of a five-year-old girl and unzipping the trousers do not amount to "sexual assault" under the POCSO Act.
"This was a case of well-planned murder which was carried out in revenge. We have all the evidence and within a month of incident we have submitted the charge sheet to get justice for the family of the victim," Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dependra Pathak said.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih observed it was pained to say that some of the observations made in the high court order depicted total insensitiveness and an inhuman approach.
Following the granting of a three-month interim bail to religious preacher Asaram Bapu, police in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, have heightened security measures at the residence of the rape survivor's family. The family, who have expressed concerns for their safety, will now need to inform the police before traveling outside the district. Asaram was convicted in 2018 for sexually assaulting a minor girl in 2013 and sentenced to life imprisonment. His latest conviction in Gujarat in 2023 resulted in another life sentence. The police have deployed a guard at the victim's house, provided personal gunners for her father and brother, and installed surveillance cameras. The police are also monitoring the area and have prohibited unauthorized gatherings. The victim's father expressed concern over Asaram's ability to manage his affairs from outside prison despite his health issues.
Bus services between Karnataka and Maharashtra have been suspended following attacks on buses and their crew. The decision was taken given the tension prevailing in the border district of Belagavi over a sensitive issue. The language row began after a group of people allegedly intercepted a KSRTC bus and assaulted its conductor and driver for not speaking to a passenger in Marathi. The passenger, a minor girl, also filed a complaint stating that the conductor misbehaved with her. However, the family of the minor girl has decided to withdraw the case and urged people to stop escalating the matter into a language dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The Supreme Court on Monday used the legal term 'inchoate crime' to refer to mere possession of any child pornographic material that it said would constitute offences under the POCSO even if not disseminated further.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader B S Yediyurappa, facing a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act charge, returned to Bengaluru on Saturday and said he will appear before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on June 17 for questioning.
The Assam cabinet on Monday decided to book men who marry girls below 14 years in the state under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
In a judgment passed on January 19, the Bombay high court has said groping a minor's breast without 'skin-to-skin contact' cannot be termed sexual assault as defined under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Ashfaq Alam had been in jail for one month in connection with the crime committed in New Delhi and later came out on bail, Aluva Rural Superintendent of Police Vivek Kumar told reporters in Kochi.
'If it is not reversed, it will set a dangerous precedent.'
In a crowded courtroom, the judge declared that Alam should be hanged to death for the killing of the girl, also from Bihar.
Banerjee had on Wednesday said an amendment to existing laws will be passed in the state assembly next week to ensure capital punishment to convicted rapists.
As per a complaint lodged by parents, the teacher allegedly took five girl students to the washroom and strip-searched them after a mobile phone rang during class at a government girls' higher secondary school on August 2, an official said.
The Madras High Court has asserted that press freedom and privacy are intertwined and that surveillance constitutes an attack on the press, which is considered the fourth pillar of democracy. The court made this observation while addressing petitions filed by the Chennai Press Club and three reporters seeking protection from harassment by a police Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the leak of an FIR concerning a sexual assault case at Anna University. The court highlighted the importance of protecting journalists' sources and criticized the SIT for seizing reporters' mobile phones without justification and for failing to adequately investigate the source of the leaked FIR.
According to Tirupati district superintendent of police L Subbarayudu, Nagaraju (24), who is the victim's maternal uncle, lured the girl to a secluded place in AM Puram village by offering her snacks on Friday evening and committed the crime.
