POCSO -- Penetrative Sexual Assault--Presence of Semen on Clothing and Generic Testimony of Victim not Sufficient
Mere presence of semen on the clothing of a victim and use of a generic expression such as "bad work" in testimony cannot, by itself, establish penetrative sexual assault under Section 3 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, or trigger the presumption under Section 29 of the Act. Penetrative sexual assault is a specific offence requiring corroborative medical or ocular evidence establishing penetration. The expression "bad work" is genus to which penetrative sexual assault is a species, and a court cannot presume the species from the genus alone. Where medical evidence discloses no injury, laceration, or spermatozoa, inference of penetration drawn solely from forensic presence of semen on clothing is unsustainable.
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