POCSO prosecutions involving adolescent relationships continue to test the boundary between statutory protection and lived reality — and occasionally, the accused is a young woman. On 22 September 2026, Justice Ashok Kumar Jain of the Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur in Sheikha Banu v. State of Rajasthan, S.B. Criminal Misc. Suspension of Sentence Application (Appeal) No. 874/2026, suspended the twenty-year sentence imposed on a 21-year-old woman convicted of aggravated penetrative sexual assault on a minor male, and released her on bail pending her appeal.
The conviction
An FIR registered in April 2023 on the report of the victim\'s father alleged sexual assault. After a trial in which fifteen prosecution witnesses were examined and twenty-eight documents exhibited, the trial court convicted the appellant — a woman aged about 21 — under Sections 5 and 6 of the POCSO Act for aggravated penetrative sexual assault on a minor male, sentencing her to twenty years\' rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000. She appealed, and pending the appeal sought suspension of sentence and bail.
What the record showed
The victim\'s own account. The order notes the admission of PW-4 — the victim, deposing after attaining eighteen — indicating that "he was in consensual relation with the present appellant-accused."
Age above sixteen. The Court recorded that the victim\'s age was more than sixteen years on the date of the incident — placing the case in the adolescent-relationship band that has generated sustained judicial debate.
The appellant\'s profile. A young woman with no criminal antecedents, whose long sentence would be substantially served before any realistic appellate hearing if suspension were refused.
Contradictions urged. The defence pressed material contradictions in the prosecution evidence and the absence of independent corroboration — matters for the appeal, but relevant to the prima facie assessment.
The order
Holding it "a fit case wherein appellant can be enlarged on bail" pending disposal of the appeal, the Court suspended the sentence and directed release on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties of Rs 25,000 each. The conditions are instructive: no involvement in criminal activity during the bail period, appearance before the court in January each year, and intimation of any change of address to both the trial court and the High Court — a light-touch but continuous tether appropriate to a multi-year appellate timeline.
Consent is not a defence to a POCSO charge where the victim is a child; the statutory age of consent is eighteen. What the adolescent-relationship cases recognise is narrower: at the suspension-of-sentence stage, the realities disclosed by the victim\'s own testimony bear on whether continued incarceration pending appeal is just. The appeal itself will decide the conviction on the law as it stands.
Suspension of long POCSO sentences: the operative factors
| Factor | Weight in practice |
|---|---|
| Prima facie tenability of conviction | Courts undertake a limited scrutiny — contradictions, age evidence, and the character of the relationship as it emerges from the victim\'s testimony. |
| Length of sentence vs. appellate delay | Where the appeal will take years, refusal of suspension can render success illusory; this is the strongest structural argument for release. |
| Profile of the appellant | Age, gender, antecedents and conduct during trial and any interim bail periods all inform the risk assessment. |
| Victim\'s position | The victim\'s deposition — especially where recorded after majority — and the family\'s stance are increasingly decisive in adolescent-relationship cases. |
The takeaway
The case is doubly instructive: it confirms that POCSO\'s machinery applies irrespective of the offender\'s gender, and it illustrates the pragmatic function of Section 430 BNSS in long-sentence appeals. For appellate counsel, the working method is to build the suspension application around the victim\'s trial testimony and the appellate timeline, and to propose conditions — periodic appearance, address intimation — that make release easy for the court to supervise.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice or a solicitation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a woman be prosecuted under the POCSO Act?
Yes. The POCSO Act, 2012 is gender-neutral as to both victim and offender: "child" means any person below eighteen, and the offences of penetrative and aggravated penetrative sexual assault are defined in terms capable of covering offenders of any gender. Prosecutions of women are uncommon but legally unexceptional, as this case shows.
What is suspension of sentence pending appeal?
Under Section 389 CrPC — now Section 430 of the BNSS, 2023 — an appellate court may suspend execution of the sentence and release a convicted appellant on bail while the appeal is pending. For long sentences, courts examine the prima facie strength of the conviction, the likely time the appeal will take, and the appellant's conduct and antecedents.
What persuaded the Court to suspend a twenty-year sentence?
The order records that the victim, examined after attaining majority, gave testimony indicating a consensual relationship with the appellant, and that his age at the time of the incident was above sixteen. Coupled with the appellant being a young woman with no criminal antecedents, and the appeal unlikely to be heard soon, the Court considered it a fit case for suspension.
Does suspension mean the conviction is set aside?
No. The conviction stands until the appeal is decided; only the execution of the sentence is suspended. The appellant remains on bail subject to conditions — here, a bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties, annual appearance before the court, abstention from offences and intimation of address changes — and the appeal will be decided on the full record.