Recently, a decision of the Bombay Bench of the Bombay High Court relating to child sex abuse was in the news, in which Judge Pushpa Ganediwala said that "touching the child's umbrellas on top of clothes is not a sexual offense because 'skin to skin'. Has not been touched. " The case was of sexual harassment of a 12-year-old child by a 39-year-old man, in which the trial court sentenced the accused to three years imprisonment under section 8 of the Poxo Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses, 2012) .
5 days after the Judgment, when suddenly this case and the peculiar verdict of Judge Ganeediwala started trending on social media, then people got noticed. Obviously the voice of protest had to be raised. The protest was so bitter that even the Supreme Court had to take notice of it. Attorney General of India K.K. Venugopal, presenting this decision in the Supreme Court, said that it is a 'very bizarre decision' and it will set a 'dangerous precedent'. With this, the Supreme Court stayed the decision of Nagpur Bench.
Now the law experts are examining the old decisions of Judge Pushpa Ganeediwala, who came into the limelight from this case . Four days before this controversial verdict, on 15 January 2021, Judge Gnediwala delivered a similar verdict in another case of child sex abuse, in which he said holding the hand of a minor child (in this case who is five years old) And opening the zip of your pants is not sexual assault under the Poxo law, but sexual harassment under Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code. The case was 'Libnas v State of Maharashtra', in which a 50-year-old man was accused of sexually abusing a 5-year-old child.
The child's mother testified in court that the accused had held her daughter's hand and the zip of her pants were open. The trial court found the accused to be a serious sexual offense with a five-year-old child, with five years imprisonment and Rs 25,000 under Section 10 of the Poxo Act. He was sentenced to fine.
When the appeal against this decision went to Bombay High Court, the case reached Pushpa Gnediwala's single bench. He again reversed the decision of the lower court. In his judgment, Judge Ganeediwala said-
"Just holding a child and unzipping their pants does not constitute a criminal sexual assault under Poxo."
She further states in the judgment, "This is a case of sexual harassment under Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code, which can carry a maximum sentence of three years." Since the accused has already spent five months in jail. Therefore, such a punishment is enough for the crime committed by him. "
Needless to say further that the Nagpur Nagpur High Court acquitted the accused.
As the judge said in the January 19 judgment that the Poxo law does not apply to this case because 'skin to skin touch' has not happened here. Applying the same definition of Poxo to this second case, the judge stated that "The definition of sexual assault as provided for in the Poxo law requires touching or having sex organs with sexual intentions." Since the sex organs have not been touched in this case, the Poxo law does not apply to it. ”
All these decisions are being given in a free democratic country, overturning the book of law, quoting the law and citing the law. The law is being interpreted as that forcing a 12-year-old child's umbrellas on top of clothes is not a sexual offense, standing in front of a five-year-old child with a zip of his pants and showing him his penis is not a crime .
This is the beginning. What remains to be heard is that this too and that is not a crime.
Our independence is 73 years old, while this law poxo which protects and protects the children of this free country is only 8 years old. It took 65 years for an independent country to enact a law that could protect children from sexual offenses of adults and punish criminals.
Like the developed countries of the world, we do not have any such social studies and statistics, which I can understand by seeing how many parents of this country have punished a man who committed sexual offenses with his children in 73 years of independence Approached the court for I do not know how many went to ask for justice and how many got justice, but I definitely know how many children have been sexually abused. According to a survey of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, in the year 2007, 53 percent of the people of this country have been sexually abused in their childhood. Think of it like every other child in this country is a victim of sexual abuse.
The NCRB data for the year 2018 says that 109 children are being sexually abused every day in this country. 109 children daily. The number looks intimidating. But I would say do not believe this figure because the NCRB has not gone to each child to ask what happened to her sexually abused. The NCRB just by multiplying those cases gave you the data, which were registered in the registers of the police and judicial institutions of this country. So this number is not reliable because you also know that you were sexually abused as a child and you did not tell anyone. Not even from his mother. You also know that when you said this, the family members told you to shut up. Just as your parents did not go to the police and the court, most of the parents of this country do not go to the police to complain against the criminal taking off his child's trunks and touching his umbrellas.
Avwal does not knock the door of the court and whoever goes, gets such classical verdict by decorating it on the plate of justice that breaching the breast over clothes is not a crime, opening of pants is not a crime.
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