Solitary instance of following a girl not stalking: Bombay HC in case involving two youths

Mumbai, Jan 6 (PTI) A solitary instance of following a girl would not be sufficient to make out the offence of stalking, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has said while acquitting two 19-year-old men.

The court, however, upheld the conviction of one of them on the charge of molestation.

The two were convicted in 2022 by a sessions court in Akola for molesting and stalking a 14-year-old girl in 2020.

They were sentenced to five years in jail on the molestation charge and three years for stalking.

The prosecution case is that the duo had followed the girl and one of them had told her he liked her and wanted to marry her. The girl had complained to her mother, who raised the issue with the parents of the youths.

However, a few days later, the youth who had confessed his love to the girl went to the victim's house and molested her.

A single bench of Justice G A Sanap, in the judgment passed in December 2024, a copy of which was made available on Monday, noted that while the conviction of one of the youths on molestation charges is correct, the conviction of the two on charges of stalking was incorrect.

"It is to be noted that in order to attract the offence of stalking, the prosecution must prove that the accused repeatedly or constantly followed, watched or contacted a child either directly or through electronic, digital media," the HC said.

"In view of this mandatory requirement of the offence of stalking, a solitary instance of following the victim would not be sufficient to make out this offence," it said.

The bench also reduced the sentence of five years imposed on one of the youths to the period he has already spent in jail since his arrest in 2022.

The duo had filed an appeal against a June 2022 order passed by a sessions court in Akola convicting them under Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. PTI SP BNM