Even slight penetration is rape, consent irrelevant for minors: HC

NAGPUR: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court recently ruled that even the slightest penetration constitutes rape and that consent is irrelevant when the survivor is a minor, reaffirming the absolute nature of protection under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. Dismissing the appeal of a 38-year-old driver from Hinganghat in Wardha district, the court upheld his conviction and 10-year sentence for attempting to commit aggravated penetrative sexual assault on two girls aged five and six. Justice Nivedita Mehta, who authored the judgment, held that ‘the act of rape or aggravated penetrative sexual assault stands complete as soon as the accused inserts any body part into the survivor’s private parts — the extent of penetration being immaterial in law’. The cour