No skin-to-skin contact: India Supreme Court strike out controversial sexual assault order

India Supreme Court don throway and strike out one controversial high court order wey clear one man of sexual assault of one 12-year-old girl because di accused no get "skin-to-skin contact" with di victim.

Di order, wey one female judge of di high court for Mumbai bin pass for January, bin cause controversy and protests.

Activists and legal experts bin say e go set a "dangerous precedent" and ask di top court to strike am down.

Campaigners say e go discourage children from reporting abuse.

Wetin di top court say?

For di ruling on Thursday, di Supreme Court bench say di court must look at di sexual intention and not weda skin-to-skin contact happun or not.

"If dem restrict am to skin-to-skin e no go only get narrow and small meaning, but e go also lead to yeye interpretation of di law," legal tori pipo LiveLaw tok.

For one strong-word judgement, di judges say di Mumbai high court order dey "insensitive and legitimise sexual behaviour" and sake of dat, "di purpose of law no fit allow di offender to sneak out of wetin di law stand for".

Wetin di case dey about?

For December 2016, one 39-year-old man chop accuse say e touch-touch one 12-year-old girl. Di girl mama bin accuse am say di man take her daughter to im house where e bin press her breast and try remove her pyjama shorts.

One trial court bin convict am for sexual assault of child under strict Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and sama am three-year jail sentence.

But on 12 January, Bombay High Court judge Pushpa Ganediwala rule say to press di girl breast without removing her top no be sexual assault since no skin-to-skin contact hapun and e go only invite lesser charge of molestation.

Di court decision bin cause serious condemnation and pipo file plenti petitions for di top court to overturn am.

On 27 January, di Supreme Court put di order for hold until dem go decide di mata.

Afta Thursday order, di accuse go need to serve di three-year jail term wey di trial court bin sama am.

Di challenge

Attorney General of India KK Venugopal, wey be one of di petitioners for di top court, describe di high court judgement as "shock".

E say if dem no reverse di order e go "set very dangerous example".

During di hearing, Oga Venugopal argue say skin-to-skin contact no be di "necessary ingredient" for crime of sexual assault under di Pocso Act.

"If tomorrow, one person wear surgical gloves and feel di whole body of one woman, e no go chop punishment for sexual assault as per dis judgment. Dis kind order shock pesin" di judge tok.

"Di accuse bin try to bring down di pyjama bottom of di girl and even den, dem give am bail," e add.

Why pipo bin vex

Di high court decision, wey one female judge pass, bin vex child rights activists and members of di civil society wey describe am as "offensive and unacceptable".

Pipo say di judgement no dey good at all sake of say na mata of children, wey no fit protect themselves.

Many people dey worry say e fit put children for serious risk of make dem cheat dem for kontri where child sexual abuse don already be major problem wit tens of thousands of cases wey dem dey report every year.

According to one goment study of 2007, two out of every three children for India dey face physical abuse and 53% of di nearly 12,300 children wey dem follow tok bin report one or more form of sexual abuse.

Last year, di National Crime Records Bureau bin register 43,000 offence under Pocso Act dat one mean one case every 12 minutes.

And campaigners say the real numbers dey much higher. Dem say di numbers pass like dat sake of say many case of abuse, especially where di abuser be family member or pipo wey di victim sabi, no dey even dey reported.