Mumbai: Merely following a girl or a victim once, will not amount to stalking as prescribed under the 354-D of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the provisions under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has held.
The court acquitted two boys from charges of stalking a minor girl, noting that a single instance of the boys following the victim will not constitute the offence of stalking.
Justice GA Sanap said: “It is to be noted that in order to attract the offence of stalking, the prosecution must prove that the accused repeatedly or constantly followed, watched or contacted a child either directly or through electronic, digital media. In view of this mandatory requirement of the offence of stalking, a solitary instance of following the victim would not be sufficient to make out this offence.”
The HC was hearing appeals filed by two boys, convicted for stalking a minor girl and subsequently sexually assaulting her. They resided in the same neighbourhood.
In January 2020, the accused followed the girl and proposed, which she refused. On August 26, the accused entered her house when her mother was away and gagged her and touched her inappropriately. When she raised the alarm, her sister came from another room following which the accused ran away.
All the while, the court noted, that his friend waited outside the house, and hence cannot be convicted either for sexual assault or stalking and therefore acquitted him from all the charges.
For the first accused, the HC said that he only followed the girl once and hence cannot be convicted for stalking. However, the court upheld his conviction and sentence for house trespassing and sexual assault noting that the testimonies of the victim and her sister were reliable and trustworthy.
The sessions court, in 2023, convicted them on June 3, 2022, and sentenced them to seven years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 55,000.
