Grabbing minor's breasts, breaking pyjama strings does not qualify as attempt to rape: Allahabad High Court

Allahabad High Court ruled that grabbing a minor girl’s breasts, breaking her pyjama strings, and trying to drag her beneath the culvert is not enough to charge an accused with the offence of rape or an attempt to rape. It described such an act as 'aggravated sexual assault’, TOI reported.
Making this observation, the high court modified a summoning order, altering the charges against two accused. The accused were earlier summoned to face trail under section 376 (rape) and under the POCSO Act.
However, now the accused will be tried under the section 354(B) IPC (assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe) and POCSO Act (aggravated sexual assault).

«The allegations levelled against the accused Pawan and Akash and the facts of the case hardly constitute an offence of attempt to rape in the case. In order to bring out a charge of attempt to rape the prosecution must establish that it had gone beyond the stage of preparation. The difference between preparation and actual attempt to commit an offence consists chiefly in the greater degree of determination,” a bench of Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra observed, as it partly allowed the criminal revision plea filed by the three accused.

As per the prosecution, the accused Pawan and Akash grabbed the breasts of the 11-year-old victim and one of them broke the string of her pyjama and tried to drag her beneath the culvert.

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However, the accused fled from the spot due to interference of passersby and witnesses.
The trial court deemed it to be a case of attempt to rape and commit penetrative sexual assault within the purview of the POCSO Act. It invoked Section 376 (rape) with Section 18 (attempt to commit an offence) of the POCSO Act and issued