Calling Girl "Item" Is Derogatory And Objectifies Her In Sexual Manner: Mumbai Court

A Mumbai court ruled that calling a girl “item” and pulling her hair amounts to outraging her modesty. The court sentenced a 25-year-old man for sexually harassing a teenager to a year and a half in prison.

The businessman had asked a 16-year-old girl “Kya item kidhar ja rahi ho?” and pulled her hair. The Special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court said in the order that such offences must be dealt with a “heavy hand”. The court added that “a lesson needs to be meted out to such roadside Romeos in order to protect the women from their uncalled for behaviour”.

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Mumbai Court Slams Term Item

The court ruled that calling the minor “item” and pulling her hair amounted to outraging her modesty, which is punishable under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code.

Justice Special Judge SJ Ansari observed, “Item is a term used generally by boys to address girls in a derogatory fashion as it objectifies them in a sexual manner”. The judge added that it indicated his intention of “outraging her modesty”.

The teenage girl had complained that the accused and his friend would repeatedly harass her. The accused would follow her and address her as “item”. On July 14, 2015, the girl was returning from school when he pulled her hair and asked “kya item kidhar ja rahi ho?”

On being told to stop, the man hurled abuses at her and she called the police helpline. The accused Abrar Khan fled by the time the police arrived and a First Information Report (FIR) was registered subsequently.

The accused submitted that he and the girl were friends and that it was a false case as the girl’s parents were unhappy with their relationship.

The court disagreed based on the girl’s testimony and added that since the girl and the accused did not know each other, “it was wholly inappropriate of the accused to act in the way in which he did”.

The judge observed that the accused calling the teenager an item “will certainly go to prove the fact of he having outraged her modesty”.