https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bombay-high-court-groping-case-india-child-sexual-assault/An Indian court has ruled that groping a child cannot be deemed sexual assault as long as there is no "skin-to-skin contact" or "sexual intent." The January 19 ruling by Bombay High Court Justice Pushpa V. Ganediwala cleared a 39-year-old man who had been accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 2016 of any wrong doing. It has drawn widespread criticism from activists in a country plagued by rape and sexual violence.
During the trial, the girl accused the defendant in the case, a man who goes only by the name Satish, of bringing her to his house on the pretext of giving her food and then groping her breast and trying to remove her clothes.
In her verdict, Justice Ganediwala said the incident couldn't be defined as sexual assault under the national Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act as, "per the definition of 'sexual assault', a 'physical contact with sexual intent without penetration' is an essential ingredient of the offence."
