'Saying I Love You Doesn’t Mean Desire for Sex': Bombay HC Acquits Man in 2015 Molestation Case

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court stated that just saying ‘I love you’ to someone does not mean that the person wants to indulge in sexual activity. It is just a way to express love. The court made these remarks while hearing a case in which a 35-year-old man was convicted for allegedly molesting a 17-year-old girl in Nagpur in 2015. Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke observed that expressing love in words is not enough to prove that the accused had sexually assaulted or had intentions to have any sexual relations with the complainant. The court acquitted the man on July 1, 2025.

The High Court said, “The legislature has considered that saying 'I love you' alone does not constitute sexual intent.”

In 2015, the 35-year-old man stopped the teenage girl while she was on her way home from school and held her hand, asked her name, and said, ‘I love you.’ The girl went to her father and said that the man said ‘I love you’ to her, sharing the whole scenario. Her father filed an FIR against the man. After this the sessions court of Nagpur began hearing the case.

He was found guilty in 2017 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code, and he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. On appeal, however, the Bombay High Court overturned the verdict, finding no concrete proof that the accused had any sexual motive.

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The court said, “There ought to be additional evidence that the true purpose of saying 'I love you' was to drag the angle of sex.” Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke said that a sexual act involves gestures that are more clearly conveying intentions to have sex, like touching inappropriately, forcibly, disrobing, indecent gestures, or passing comments that insult the modesty of a woman. The court observed, “In this case, there is no evidence proving that the accused had said ‘I love you’ with a sexual intent.”

The judge further explained the difference between expressing personal feelings and criminal conduct by saying, “When someone expresses his love for another person or shows his emotions, that does not necessarily indicate that he has sexual intentions.”