High Court said – Rape touching private part on top of clothes: rape happened or not, it took 16 years for final decision, minor was forced

Touching a woman’s private part on top of the clothes will be considered rape. While explaining rape, this important thing has been said by the Meghalaya High Court during the hearing of a case. Actually, on September 23, 2006, there was a molestation with a minor. In this case, a complaint was lodged on September 30, after which the victim’s medical examination was conducted on October 1.

Medical examination revealed that the victim’s private part was damaged. The doctor also admitted that the victim was raped and she went through mental trauma. It was also revealed in the investigation that the inner part of the victim’s private part was broken not due to any physical activity but due to rubbing of some other part.

Earlier, the sessions court had also convicted the accused in the rape case, after which he appealed to the Meghalaya High Court. The argument of the accused was that when he did not take off the clothes of the victim, then how was this rape. The Meghalaya High Court has now given its verdict in this matter on March 14.

What did the Meghalaya High Court say while explaining rape?

The court, while giving its verdict, said that only penetration is not necessary in rape cases under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). According to section 375 (b) of IPC, penetration of male private part into the private part of any woman comes under the category of rape. In such a situation, even though the victim was wearing undergarments at the time of the incident, still it will be called rape considering it as penetration.

Victim said – I did not feel pain, but I had molestation

The victim had said in her statement that it is true that the accused had not penetrated his private part in me. I didn’t even feel any pain, but the accused had rubbed his private part on my undergarments.

Strange decision of Bombay High Court in molestation and rape case

Last year, the sessions court in Maharashtra gave a verdict regarding ‘marital rape’. In this, a wife was paralyzed due to forced sex. In this case, the court said that he sympathizes with the woman, but it is not the husband’s fault in this. In this case, the court granted bail to the husband and his family members in the case of dowry and forced sex. In this, the basis of bail was given that the husband and his family members need not be interrogated in custody in the case of dowry or forced sex. At the same time, the court made a remark that many people find insensitive that the husband has not done any illegal thing by having sex with the wife.

Hearing a case of molestation last year itself, a Bombay High Court bench observed that showing love for a married woman, throwing poetry written on her amounted to “outraging her modesty”. The court imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the accused who had molested the victim on several occasions in the past also for such acts and on several occasions, which was given to the victim woman.

At the same time, the Bombay High Court in early 2021, in a case of sexual offenses against a minor, had observed that touching the chest with the top of clothes cannot be called sexual assault. The court had said that in this case, the case should not be tried under the POCSO Act but on the charge of outrage. The court said that skin-to-skin touch is necessary for sexual assault with malicious intent. Mere touching of the body cannot be brought under the definition of sexual assault.