Holding Her Hand, Pulling Towards Self, Saying I Love You Amounts Outraging A Woman’s Modesty: Chhattisgarh HC
“Therefore, the act done by the appellant with the victim very much falls under the offence under Section 354 of the IPC as it was done by him to outrage the modesty of the victim”, the judgement said
Raipur: The Chhattisgarh high court has held that saying ‘I love you’ to a woman by holding her hand and pulling her towards self, outrages her modesty.
Upholding the judgement of the lower court convicting the accused in the case, the single bench of Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi of the high court observed that “In the instant case, the appellant not only held hand of the victim, rather he also pulled her towards him by saying ‘I love you’. Such behaviour of a young boy with any girl particularly of rural area is considered highly objectionable”.
“Therefore, the act done by the appellant with the victim very much falls under the offence under Section 354 of the IPC as it was done by him to outrage the modesty of the victim”, the judgement said.
Section 354 of IPC deals with assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty.
The case relates to an incident of 2019 in Raigarh district in Chhattisgarh in which a 19-year-old youth (then) stopped the victim when she was returning home from school along with her younger sister and then held her hand and pulled her towards him by saying ‘I love you’.
An FIR was lodged against the accused in the local police station under the relevant section of IPC and POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.
The case was tried in a fast-track court which convicted the accused under Section 354 of IPC and POCSO Act in 2022.
The trial court sentenced him to three -year-imprisonment each in the IPC charge and POCSO Act.
The high court however dropped the POCSO Act against the accused citing lack of evidence on his minor status at the time of the crime, while upholding his conviction under Section 534 of IPC.
