In a recent case, a court in Kerala has made a ruling stating that merely grabbing a woman’s hand and threatening her without any intention of violating her modesty does not constitute the offense of outraging the modesty of a woman under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The judgment was delivered by Santosh TK, a Judicial First Class Magistrate-II in Aluva, who stated that the act of assault or criminal force alone does not amount to an offense under Section 354 IPC. The court emphasized that there must be an established intent to offend the victim’s decorum in order to convict someone under this section.
In the specific incident that led to the court case, which occurred in 2013, a woman was praying in a temple when the defendant grabbed her hand and threatened to murder her. The accused was charged with violating Sections 354 (assault or criminal force against a woman with intent to affront her modesty) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
After reviewing the statements and evidence, the judge concluded that the accused did not have the intention to violate the woman’s modesty, despite the act of holding her hand and issuing threats. The judge noted that there was no evidence of the defendant using indecent language or having any lustful intentions.
As a result, the court dismissed the allegation under Section 354 IPC against the defendant. However, the court found the defendant guilty of criminal intimidation under Section 506(1) of the IPC for threatening to murder the woman with the intent to frighten her.
Consequently, the court sentenced the defendant to two months of simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of 5,000 rupees.
