The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted two 19-year-old youths, saying that following a girl once would not be enough to presume that the offence of 'stalking' has been committed. However, the court upheld the conviction of one of them on the charge of molestation. Both were convicted in 2022 by an Akola sessions court for molesting and stalking a 14-year-old girl in 2020. They were sentenced to five years in jail on the charge of molestation and three years on the charge of stalking.

What is the matter?

The prosecution's case is that the two had been stalking the girl and one of them had told her that he liked her and wanted to marry her. The girl had complained to her mother, who raised the issue with the youths' parents. However, a few days later, the youth who had confessed his love for the girl came to the victim's house and molested her.

"It is right to plead guilty to molestation"

A single bench of Justice G A Sanap, in its December 2024 judgment, a copy of which was made available on Monday, said that it was right to convict one youth on the charge of molestation but it was wrong to convict the other youth on the charge of stalking. 

"It is required to be noted that for the offence of stalking, the prosecution has to prove that the accused has repeatedly or continuously followed, watched or contacted a person either directly or through electronic, digital media," the high court said.

What did the bench say in the case?

The bench said that given this essential requirement of the crime of stalking, a single instance of stalking the victim would not be sufficient to prove the crime. The bench also reduced the sentence of a youth of five years to the period he has already spent in jail since his arrest in 2022