Following a girl only once not stalking: Bombay High Court

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has held that following a girl only once does not amount to stalking as prescribed under section 354-D of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the provisions under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

According to a report by Live Law, Justice Govind Sanap was hearing a case of two boys stalking and sexually assaulting a minor girl when he pronounced the judgement on December 5.

"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 judgement read.

The two boys, convicted of stalking and sexually assaulting the girl had filed a plea in the high court against the conviction. The court held one of the boys guilty of sexually assaulting the victim in January 2020, when he visited her house and forced himself upon her by gagging her mouth and pressing her breast. He was not convicted of stalking as the court opined that the accused followed the victim only once when she had gone to fetch water from a well.

The second boy was acquitted of both the offences as the court noted that the victim in her testimony did not attribute any specific role to the second accused in the case apart from accompanying the first accused. The second accused had accompanied the first accused during both events of following the victim and sexually assaulting her. The court noted that during the sexual assault upon the victim, the second accused boy was only standing outside the victim's house.