Bombay HC Grants Bail To Man Accused Of Assaulting Minors, Cites Absence Of Sexual Intent

Mumbai: Observing that there was no sexual intent, the Bombay High Court has granted bail to a 33-year-old man accused of assaulting three minor boys on their private parts. The court, while granting bail to Kapil Taak noted that the case was only of physical and mental torture.

Taak was arrested in 2021 under charges of unnatural offence, assault and criminal intimidation of the Indian Penal Code and for sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). Taak and other persons are accused of stripping three teenage boys, assaulting them with leather belts, putting fingers into their anus and applying Zandu Balm on their private parts. Taak is also accused of shooting the entire incident on mobile phone.

“After going through the FIR and the allegations made in the FIR against the applicant, prima facie nothing is brought on record to show that there was any sexual intent,” Justice Anil Kilor said in June 21. The court added that the case was of “physical and mental torture meted out to the minor victims” as Taak and the other accused in the case thought the victims were thieves.

Advocate Sana Khan, appearing for Taak, submitted that provisions of the POCSO Act would not apply in this case as there was no sexual intent. Also, he has been languishing in Jail since his arrest in April 2021.

The Incident was of January 2021, whereas the complaint was filed after three months by the mother of one of the minor victims. The mother came across some people watching a video in the market in which some minor boys were being assaulted and abused in their private parts. She identified one of the boys as her own son. When she asked her son, he narrated that rhe accused picked them up from a local market and took them to a secluded spot where they were assaulted.