The Patna High Court has delivered an important judgment on the factual difference between attempted rape and sexual assault in legal terms. In an old case from Bihar, the court made it clear that trying to remove a woman’s salwar or clothes or pressing her chest cannot be proved as attempted rape unless there is clear intent to rape or evidence of sexual intercourse. Justice Purnendu Singh overturned a man’s three-year jail sentence in an old case dating back to 2008.
The incident took place in Amarpur area of Banka district of Bihar on January 19, 2008. There a young girl went to a studio with her father to take pictures. After taking the photo, the owner of the studio closed the door after showing the computer screen to the student’s father. The victim was then stripped of her salwar and tried to press her chest. The accused studio owner fled when the father came running after hearing the daughter’s screams. The lower court convicted the accused of attempted rape and illegal detention and sentenced him to three years in prison. The accused appealed against the verdict in the Patna High Court.
During the hearing of the case in the High Court, the trial court reviews all the facts and evidence. The court observed that no investigating officer or any medical officer was produced as a witness in this case. The Patna High Court made it clear that there was no evidence or minimum physical contact required for attempted rape in this case. However, the court admitted that keeping the girl locked in a closed room, stripping her clothes and touching her chest is definitely an offense of defamation or obscenity against a woman. But even though it is legally a crime, it cannot be considered as attempted rape. The High Court eventually overturned the lower court’s verdict and acquitted the accused due to lack of requisite legal evidence.
Note that this is not the first such judgment. Earlier, on March 17, 2025, the Allahabad High Court had given a similar controversial verdict. The judge ruled that the act of dragging an 11-year-old girl by her pajamas was not attempted rape but preparation for rape. This verdict started uproar across the country. Following protests by lawyers and social activists, the Supreme Court on March 24, 2025 intervened spontaneously and issued a stay on the Allahabad High Court judgment in March.