The Supreme Court of India has stayed an order by the Allahabad High Court, which ruled that grabbing a girl’s breasts and breaking the strings of her pyjamas while dragging her under a culvert were not sufficient grounds to charge the accused with rape or attempt to rape.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the matter, the apex court acted on a letter submitted by Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta, registering a case on Tuesday. The High Court had previously directed a POCSO court to modify the charge of rape in the case to that of “assaulting or abusing with intent to disrobe or compel her to be naked.”
The Supreme Court’s intervention comes amid widespread criticism of the High Court’s interpretation, raising concerns about the legal threshold for establishing sexual offences.
*This is a developing news.
