Bombay HC Acquits 25-Year-Old Man Accused Of Molestation, Says Saying ‘I Love You’ Doesn’t Imply Sexual Intent

Mumbai: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has acquitted a 25-year-old man accused of molesting a teen girl in 2015 observing that merely saying ‘I love you’ is only expressing feelings and would not in itself amount to sexual intent.

The man was booked for allegedly accosting a 17-year-old girl, holding her hand and saying ‘I love you’. He was booked under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act). The special court atNagour convicted him in 2017. He then challenged his conviction before the HC.

Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke, on Monday, set aside the conviction noting that there was no circumstance to indicate that his real intention was to establish sexual contact with the victim. “Words expressed ‘I love you’ would not by itself amount to sexual intent as contemplated by the legislature,” the court said.

The judge added that there has tk be something more to suggest that the real intention behind saying ‘I love you’ was to have a physical relationship with the girl. “Words uttered should be with “sexual intent” associated with indicative of involvement of sex or physical contact or expressing sexual overtures.”

According to the prosecution, the man accosted the girl when she was returning home from school, held her hand and asked her name and said “I love you”. The girl managed to escape and narrated the incident to her father, who then registered a complaint with the police.

The court, however, opined that the case does not fall under the purview of molestation or sexual harassment. It said that any sexual act includes inappropriate touching, forcible disrobing, indecent gestures or remarks made with intent to insult the modesty of a woman.

In the present case, there is no evidence that reveals that the accused had said “I love you” with a sexual intent, the court emphasized. “If somebody says that he is in love with another person or expresses his feelings that in itself would not amount to an intent showing some sort of sexual intention,” the order read.