TOI illustration for representation.

MEERUT: In what is the first case of its kind in Uttar Pradesh, a woman has been booked for sexual assault under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) following a complaint by a minor boy.

Saharanpur police lodged an FIR against the 23-year-old accused woman following a court order, after the 16-year-old boy alleged that she was putting pressure on him to marry her. The case has been filed under sections 7 and 8 (both of which deal with sexual assault of minors) of POCSO Act as well as section 386 (extortion with threats to hurt or kill victim) of the IPC.

According to police officials, the woman had in her possession some video clippings showing the teenager in a compromising position and had been harassing the boy sexually for some time. She had been mounting pressure on the minor to marry her and threatening to circulate the video clips online if he did not agree.

The boy’s brother had first approached the police with a complaint, but the police had allegedly refused to file a case, as the accused was a woman while the victim was a boy, contrary to the usual kind of cases filed in the state under the law. The boy’s family then approached the court which instructed the police to lodge a complaint and investigate the matter.

“Following the court’s instructions, we have lodged an FIR against the woman for sexually assaulting a minor. Prima facie the matter appears to be a love affair. It came to our knowledge during the initial investigation that, on the basis of some text messages exchanged between the couple and call recordings, the woman was mounting pressure on the boy to marry her but he refused. We are investigating if any video shows the boy in a compromising position with the woman,” said station officer of Kotwali (rural) police station, Piyush Dikshit.

“This might be the first case in the state where a woman has been booked under POCSO following a complaint by a minor boy,” the SO added.

