The Bombay High Court has permitted the bail and suspended the sentence of a 19-year-old man who was convicted for sexually assaulting his 15-year-old cousin.
The order came after the minor in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case took back her statement.
According to the report Hindusthan Times, on the case, the Bombay High Court stated that consensual sex with a minor is a legal grey area.
The court further noted that the law does not consider consent given by a minor valid.
The matter will now be taken up during the appeal against the conviction.
Earlier, the 19-year-old man was earlier sentenced to 10-year imprisonment for raping the girl.
In an earlier controversial verdict, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has said that holding a minor girl's hand and opening her pants zip cannot be termed as 'sexual assault' under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012. Such acts would amount to sexual harassment under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, the court said.
The court's findings came from a single bench of Justice Pushpa Ganediwala, who was hearing a case in a criminal appeal filed against the conviction and sentence awarded to a 50 year old man for molesting a 5 year old girl. The trial court had sentenced the convict to 5 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000 for sexual assault under Section 10 of the POCSO. The girl's mother had complained that the accused's pants zip was open, and her daughter had her hands in his hands. Explaining the term 'physical contact' in the definition of sexual assault, the court stated that it means "direct physical contact - that is, skin-to-skin-contact without sexual penetration."
The court noted that the matter falls under Section 354A (1) (i) of the IPC, therefore, the sentence under Section 8, 10 and 12 of the POCSO Act was repealed. The man was then convicted under the section which has a provision of imprisonment for a maximum period of 3 years. The court held that the imprisonment of 5 months already served by the accused is sufficient punishment for the offence.