The Bombay High Court has ruled that a single instance of stalking a girl does not meet the legal criteria for stalking under Section 354(D) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which requires repeated or persistent conduct to constitute an offence.
This decision came from Justice GA Sanap when he heard the petitions concerning two 19-year-old men accused of sexual abuse and trespassing in a case involving a 14-year-old girl.
“One incident of stalking a girl alone cannot be categorized as stalking under the IPC. The law requires evidence of repeated or continuous acts to establish such a crime,” said Judge Sanap during the trial.
The case began in January 2020, when the defendant followed a young girl who expressed a desire to marry her. Although the girl was clearly rejected by her mother’s intervention in the suspect’s family, she continued to abuse her.
On August 26, 2020, the defendant allegedly entered the girl’s home illegally, gagged her, and touched her inappropriately. The second accused was said to be standing outside the house at the time of the incident.
The trial court convicted both men of multiple charges under the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (Pocso) Act, including stalking, sexual harassment, trespassing, and criminal intimidation.
When considering, the High Court noted that the case of fraud is based on one incident where the defendant followed the girl to the river. Justice Sanap clarified that stalking under Section 354(D) requires evidence of repeated or continuous actions, such as following, watching, or attempting to touch the victim through physical or digital means.
While the court acquitted the second accused of all charges, stating that no one was involved in more than surveillance outside the home, it upheld the conviction of the main accused under Section 354(A) of the IPC for sexual harassment and Section 8 of the POCSO Act. for sexual harassment.
However, the Supreme Court commuted the sentence of the main accused, taking into account his young age and the two and a half years he had already spent in custody.