Based on two viral videos, we can claim that the Indian mindset is changing. Women are not tolerating any violation of their modesty silent, rather they are stepping up to take action against their abusers.
In one of the videos, we can see that a man is being beaten up by residents of a society in Noida, for passing comments abusive in nature towards women in that society. Another video showed a woman grabbing the collar of an auto driver and slapping at Vaishnodevi.
In both cases, the FIR has been lodged based on Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code. This section states that any kind of activity or word spoken that outrages the modesty of a woman, is a punishable offense.
This raises several questions, what makes an activity outrageous to the modesty of a woman, and what are the extensions of ? Therefore, let’s check these quick facts:
What is a violation of modesty of a woman?
The Supreme Court stated ‘modesty’ as female decency and virtue that girls possess as a result of their sex. The penalization is jail time of between one and 5 years at the side of a fine. Important: it’s not enough that the victim’s modesty is angry. It associates degree offense only if the suspect supposed or knew it to be probably that the acts in question would outrage the victim’s modesty.
What constitutes the violation of modesty of a woman?
The violation of modesty of a woman includes these:
- Any act or omission should be committed against a woman.
- The offender must have abused or used criminal force against the victim.
- There should be a common intent of the offender to offend the modesty of women, or that such behavior offends the modesty of women.
- Victim response or lack of revenge is not a determining factor in exonerating a litigant from liability.
- The offense is against a woman, regardless of her age. Although the level of humility associated with infants is different from that associated with women, the seriousness of the act and the offenders’’ intentions/knowledge should not be the victim’s state of mind, but the widest possible range of thoughts.
- Any person who commits a relevant offense under this section shall be sentenced to relevant detention of any description for a period of one to five years and shall be liable to pay a fine. Victims are entitled to compensation.
What is the punishment of the violation of modesty of a woman?
The offender may face imprisonment for up to 2 years or financial penalty or both.
Is it right if the offenders get publicly assaulted?
As per Sec. 96 of the Indian Penal Code, nothing is an offense that is done in exercise of the right of private defense.
The law of private defense is based on two different principles
1. Everyone has the right to private defense of his own body and property and another body and property.
2. The right of private defense does not apply to those cases where the accused himself is an aggressive party.
The right to private defense is limited to protecting oneself or anyone else.
