‘Physical relations’ cannot automatically mean sexual assault, rules Delhi High court
The Delhi high court has acquitted a man in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act case, saying that the use of phrase ‘physical relations’ by the minor survivor cannot automatically mean sexual assault, PTI reported. The bench observed that it was unclear how the trial court concluded that there was any sexual assault when the minor survivor had “voluntarily” gone with the accused. According to the PTI report, the high court stated that the leap from “physical relations or 'sambandh' to sexual assault and then to penetrative sexual assault must be established by evidence” and cannot be deduced as an inference. Though consent would not matter if the girl is a minor under the POCSO Act, the phrase 'physical relations' cannot be converted automatically into sexual intercourse let alone sexual assault," it held.
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