Penetration 'to any extent' constitutes sexual assault under POCSO even without injury: HC

The Himachal Pradesh High Court's Division Bench of Justices Vivek Singh Thakur and Ranjan Sharma has ruled that penetration of the penis "to any extent" into the anus of a child constitutes penetrative sexual assault under Section 3 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act), irrespective of whether injury is caused.

The Court further held that when such assault is committed upon a child below twelve years of age, it amounts to aggravated penetrative sexual assault under Section 5(m), punishable under Section 6 of the POCSO Act. The bench dismissed an appeal challenging the conviction and upheld both the conviction and sentence imposed by the trial court.

The case involved an incident on 27 April 2020, when the child was playing outside a quarter during the COVID-19 lockdown. A neighbour witnessed the accused taking the victim to his room. When the child emerged some minutes later, he was seen cleaning his anus near nearby bushes. The victim later disclosed to his father that the accused had inserted his private part into the victim's anus, causing severe pain.