Daijiworld Media Network – Kolkata

Kolkata, Apr 25: The Calcutta High Court on Friday suspended an earlier order by a West Bengal trial court convicting and sentencing an individual under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, in a case where the accused was found guilty of both ‘aggravated sexual assault’ and ‘attempt to rape.’

The trial court had sentenced the accused to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment for both charges. However, after hearing the appeal, a division bench consisting of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Biswaroop Chowdhury observed that the evidence did not support the charge of ‘attempt to rape.’

The bench noted that the medical examination of the victim did not indicate any penetration or an attempt at penetration. According to the victim's testimony, the accused had attempted to grope her breasts while under the influence of alcohol. The court emphasized that such actions could support the charge of "aggravated sexual assault" under Section 10 of the POCSO Act but did not indicate an attempt to commit rape.

The division bench further stated that if the charge were to be reduced to ‘aggravated sexual assault’ instead of both charges of ‘aggravated sexual assault’ and ‘attempt to rape,’ the sentence would be scaled down to a term between five and seven years, compared to the 12-year sentence for the attempt to rape charge.

In this case, the convict has already served 28 months in prison. The bench suspended the trial court's conviction and sentence until the appeal is disposed of or further orders are issued. It also stayed the payment of the fine until the appeal's final outcome.

While suspending the sentence, the division bench made it clear that its observations would not affect the ongoing appeal proceedings.