The Allahabad court recently heard a case involving oral sexual assault on a kid, and the court decided that it was not a serious crime and that the guilty side’s sentence should be lowered. Mahua Moitra, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP from West Bengal’s Kirshnanagar, slammed two court rulings. Moitra pressed High Courts to brace up and take note of the gravity of such crimes, citing the Allahabad High Court’s recent POCSO-related order and the Bombay High Court’s skin-to-skin decision.
The Lok Sabha member shared on Twitter: “Oral sex does not qualify as ‘aggravated sexual assault’ under POCSO, according to the Allahabad High Court, after the Bombay High Court reportedly stated that skin-to-skin contact is required for a POCSO offense. POCSO was created to protect children from the most heinous atrocities. Don’t dilute it in any way.”
The term and penalty given by the Special Sessions court on a convict, Sonu Kushwaha, who is guilty of pressuring a 10-year-old kid to perform oral sex in exchange for Rs 20, were lowered by the Allahabad High Court on November 20. The Allahabad High Court reduced Kushwaha’s sentence from ten to seven years, citing the ‘less serious’ nature of the offense.
A single bench led by Justice Anil Kumar Ojha was debating whether inserting the penis into the victim’s mouth and discharging semen therein would fall under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act’s Section 5/6 (Whoever commits aggravated penetrative sexual assault) or Section 9/10 (Whoever commits sexual assault on a child under the age of 12).
According to the Allahabad High Court, “…it is clear that the offense committed by the appellant does not fall under Section 5/6 of the POCSO Act or Section 9(M) of the POCSO Act because there is penetrative sexual assault in this case because the appellant has placed his penis in the victim’s mouth. Putting a penis in one’s mouth isn’t considered aggravated or sexual assault. Penetrative sexual assault, as defined by Section 4 of the POCSO Act, is a crime.”
The entire nation has condemned the act of inserting the penis into a child’s mouth in exchange for Rs.20. The court’s judgment infuriated the public.
