New Delhi, Sep 30 A Delhi court has convicted a man for outraging the modesty of a woman, sexually harassing her and insulting her modesty during a neighbourhood quarrel, while acquitting him of attempting to disrobe her and causing hurt to her mother.
Additional Sessions Judge Sachin Jain was hearing a case against Vikas Kumar alias Vicky and convicted him of charges under BNS Sections 74 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 75(3) (sexual harassment via sexually colored remarks) and 79 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).
In an order dated September 24, the court said, "The testimony is not confined to a general allegation that the accused 'abused' her but attributed specific sexually coloured expressions to him which are not reproduced herein for the sake of brevity. The court therefore finds that the evidence goes beyond a mere allegation of ordinary abuse arising from a neighbourhood quarrel."
The court, however, acquitted him under BNS Sections 76 (assault or use of criminal force on a woman with intent to disrobe) and 115(2) (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), giving him the benefit of doubt on the charges of attempting to disrobe the woman and voluntarily causing hurt to her mother respectively.
According to the prosecution, on August 3, 2024, the woman and her mother were going to throw garbage when Kumar, their neighbour, objected to it. A quarrel followed, during which he allegedly abused the woman, held her hand and dragged her towards his house.
The woman alleged that Kumar then unzipped his pants and made sexually coloured remarks. When her mother intervened, he allegedly threw a brick at her, causing an injury.
The woman and her mother went to the police station after the incident, following which an FIR was registered at Kotla Mubarakpur police station.
The court said the testimony of the woman and her mother was consistent on the broad sequence of events and found them to be "sterling" witnesses regarding the occurrence.
It rejected the defence argument that the absence of CCTV footage and statements of public witnesses weakened the prosecution case, noting that the two women had gone to the police station after the incident and police had not been called to the spot.
The judge held that the act of the accused of holding and dragging the woman, coupled with sexually coloured and derogatory remarks and exposing his private parts, amounted to outraging her modesty.
The court also held that the remarks made by Kumar constituted sexual harassment under Section 75(3) and intentionally insulted the woman's modesty under Section 79 BNS.
However, the court said there was no evidence that Kumar had attempted to remove the woman's clothes or compel her to become naked, an essential requirement for an offence under Section 76 BNS.
It also acquitted him of causing hurt to the woman's mother, pointing to contradictions in her testimony about whether the alleged brick injury was suffered on her foot or head. The medical evidence also recorded no visible or major injury.
The court accordingly convicted Kumar under BNS Sections 74, 75(3) and 79 and acquitted him under BNS Sections 76 and 115(2).
