'Saying I love you does not imply sexual intent': Bombay HC bench on man accused of 'molesting' teenager

02 July, 2025 | 10:10 IST

While acquitting a 35-year-old man accused of molesting a teenager, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court observed that saying "I love you" is merely an expression and does not in itself amount to “sexual intent".

According to reports, the accused was previously found guilty of offences under sections 354 A (i) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act).

The case stems from a report filed by the then 17-year-old- minor victim on 23 October, 2015. She had alleged that the accused came on his motorcycle, held her hands and said, “I love you”, while she was walking to her home with her cousin. The girl managed to leave the place and went home, and told her father about the incident pursuant to which a FIR was lodged.

Explaining a sexual act in the order, a bench of Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke  said it includes inappropriate touching and  indecent gestures or remarks made with an intent to insult the modesty of a woman. “Words expressed ‘I love you’ would not by itself amount to sexual intent as contemplated by the legislature. There should be something more to suggest that the real intention behind saying ‘I love you’ was to drag the angle of sex," the bench observed as quoted by News18.

The court quashed the man’s conviction, noting there was no circumstance to indicate his real intention was to establish sexual contact with the victim.

“If somebody says that he is in love with another person or expresses his feelings that in itself would not amount to an intent showing some sort of sexual intention," the order said.

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