Merely Grabbing Woman's Hand Doesn't Outrage Modesty: Kerala Court

A Kerala magistrate court has observed that merely grabbing a woman’s hand without any "lustful intent" would not count as "outraging her modesty. The accused was only found guilty of criminal intimidation because he had threatened to kill the woman.

"Mere assault or criminal force does not amount to an offence." The culpable intention to outrage the modesty of the woman is to be proved," noted the first-class Magistrate Court II at Aluva in Ernakulam in its verdict on July 13.

Kerala Court On Grabbing Woman's Hand

The prosecution claimed that the woman had been waiting for a prayer at a temple on April 24 when the accused caught hold of her hand with the intent to outrage her modesty, cause alarm, and threaten to kill her.

The 29-year-old man was charged under sections 354 (assaulting a woman with an intention to outrage her modesty) and 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The court held that the prosecution had only established that the man had caught hold of the woman and threatened to kill her. However, it failed to prove that the accused had any intention of outraging her modesty.

Magistrate T. K. Santhosh noted in his order that there was no record to prove that the accused said any indecent words or had any lustful intention towards the woman. Due to the lack of evidence to substantiate the claim that the accused intended to outrage the woman’s modesty, it couldn’t be taken into account.

The Kerala court, however, convicted the accused of criminal intimidation, sentenced him to two years imprisonment, and imposed a fine of Rs. 5,000 against him.

10 Seconds Groping Not A Crime, Italy

In Italy, a judge cleared charges against a school caretaker for groping a teenager, which led to massive public outrage in the country. The incident involved a 66-year-old man named Antonia Avola, who was accused of touching a schoolgirl inappropriately on school premises in April 2022.

The 17-year-old student of a high school in Rome said that when she was walking up the stairs with a friend, she felt her pants falling down and someone touching her underwear and grabbing her buttocks. When she confronted the man, he dismissively said that he was just joking.

Despite the prosecutor’s plea for three-and-a-half-year imprisonment, the accused was cleared by the judge as the incident only lasted less than 10 seconds and failed to meet the criteria to be classified as a crime.

The girl described how the man had forcefully groped her, causing pain in her private parts. She expressed that she felt let down by the school and the justice system, feeling betrayed. The agitated public began trending "palpate breve" or "brief touching" on social media and posting videos of themselves touching their private parts.

Suggested Reading: Mother May Be Termed Bad, But Good For Child’s Welfare: Kerala HC