RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh High Court, hearing the appeal against the conviction judgment order of the trial court, ruled that saying ‘I love you’, holding hand and pulling woman towards self amounted to offence as it outrages the modesty of a woman.

The accused, 19 years at the time of incident in Raigarh district, was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 3 years besides a fine of `1,000 under Section 354 of IPC (criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by the Fast Track Special Court in 2022.

The victim had lodged a written police complaint in November 2019 alleging that the appellant stopped her saying ‘I love you’, held her hand and pulled her towards him. An FIR was then lodged against him.

A single judge bench of Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi found that the conviction for the offence under the POCSO Act was ‘not sustainable’ as the prosecution has failed to prove the victim as minor on the date of incident but said that the Fast Track Special Court did no mistake in holding the accused guilty.