Section 11 POCSO Act: Sexual harassment

Section 11 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012: Sexual harassment

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

A person is said to commit sexual harassment upon a child when such person with sexual intent—

(i) utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object or part of the body, which is seen or heard by the child; or

(ii) makes a child exhibit his body or any part of his or her body; or

(iii) shows any pornographic material to a child in any form or media; or

(iv) repeatedly or constantly follows or watches or contacts a child; or

(v) threatens the child with injury to his person, reputation or property.

Statutory Defined Terms in this Section: (Click any term for official legal definition)

Child Sec 2(1)(d) Special Court Sec 28

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 11

Section 11 defines the offence of Sexual Harassment of a child, criminalizing verbal, physical, gestural, and digital misconduct directed at a minor with sexual intent.

Verbal & Utterance Misconduct: Uttering words, making sounds, or playing audio content of a sexually suggestive nature within the hearing of a child.
Gestural & Visual Indecency: Exhibiting obscene gestures, exposing body parts, or displaying sexually explicit objects or media to a child.
Electronic & Cyber Harassment: Transmitting sexually explicit messages, images, or digital media via internet platforms, social media, or cellular devices.
Stalking & Privacy Intrusion: Repeatedly following, watching, spying upon a child, or entrapping the minor into sexualized conversations in physical or digital spaces.

Section 11 provides broad protection against non-contact sexual predation, penalizing cyber-grooming, digital stalking, and obscene harassment before physical assault occurs.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Eera v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2017) 15 SCC 133: Held that Section 11 must be interpreted broadly to cover all modalities of psychological, digital, and gestural sexual intimidation of children.

Legal Commentary:

Section 11 provides comprehensive protection against non-contact sexual intimidation, including online grooming, obscene digital messaging, cyber-stalking, and exhibitionism.

Section 11: Sexual harassment

Section 11 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012: Sexual harassment

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 11