Grabbing breasts, breaking pyjama string is not rape, says Allahabad HC

Allahabad High Court has ruled that grabbing a woman’s breasts and breaking her pyjama string is not enough to press an attempt to rape charge. A bench of Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra further highlighted the difference between preparation and an actual attempt to commit rape. 

The court made these observations while hearing a case from 2021, in which an 11-year-old girl was subjected to aggravated sexual assault. The accused, Pawan and Akash, were alleged to have groped the child’s breasts, attempted to break her pyjama string, and dragged her under a culvert in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj district. They fled the scene when passersby intervened.

Initially, the Kasganj trial court had directed that Pawan and Akash be tried under Section 376 of the IPC (rape) and Section 18 of the POCSO Act (attempt to commit aggravated sexual assault). 

However, the Allahabad High Court ruled that the charges should instead fall under Section 354-B of the IPC (assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe) and Sections 9/10 of the POCSO Act (aggravated sexual assault).

The bench said, “The allegations levelled against the accused Pawan and Akash and facts of the case hardly constitute an offence of attempt to rape in the case. In order to bring out a charge of attempt to rape the prosecution must establish that it had gone beyond the stage of preparation. The difference between preparation and actual attempt to commit an offence consists chiefly in the greater degree of determination.”

The court further highlighted that witnesses did not state that the victim was completely undressed as a result of the accused’s actions.

“It is also not stated by witnesses that due to this act of the accused, the victim got naked or got undressed. There is no allegation that the accused tried to commit penetrative sexual assault against the victim,” the court added. 

The court also observed that, as the victim was not fully undressed and no attempt at penetration was made, the case did not meet the legal criteria for an attempt to rape charge.