Patna High Court Ruling That 'Attempt To Remove Salwar, Pressing Chest' Is Not Attempt To Rape Flagged Before Supreme Court

Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta today flagged before the Supreme Court a Patna High Court order which held that allegations of attempting to remove a woman's salwar and physically molesting by pressing her chest do not constitute 'attempt to rape'.A bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana were informed about the order during the hearing of the suo motu case taken up over the Allahabad High Court verdict that grabbing the breasts of a minor girl, breaking the string of her pyjama and trying to drag her beneath a culvert would not come under the offence of 'attempt to rape'.The Allahabad High Court had observed in the said case that the acts would prima facie constitute the offence of 'aggravated sexual assault' under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, which carries a lesser punishment.