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(Guest)

Whether women can outrage modesty of women?

 

Whether women can outrage Modesty of women?

 
 The argument of Mr. Gupta is that as the Penal Code does not make the act of assault or use of criminal force to any man with intent "to outrage his modesty" an offence, Section 354, Penal Code contravenes Article 14 of the Constitution and that in enacting Section 354, Penal Code, the legislature has discriminated in favour of women only on the ground of s*x and that therefore, Section 354 offends against Article 15(1). In my view this argument is unsound and must be rejected. The offence under Section 354 is committed only when a person assaults or uses a criminal force to a woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty. It is not the act of outraging the modesty that is made an offence under this section. In order to constitute an offence under Section 354, Penal Code there must be an assault or use a criminal force to any woman with the intention or knowledge that the woman's modesty will be outraged. The offence under Section 354, Penal Code can be committed by any man or a woman with the necessary intent or knowledge. For, a woman can assault or use criminal force to any other woman as equally and effectively as any man; and the intention or knowledge that the modesty of the woman assaulted or against whom criminal force has been used will be outraged, is not of a kind which a woman on account of inherent differences from man is incapable of having. The pronoun "he" used in the expression "that he will thereby outrage her modesty" must therefore be taken under Section 8, Penal Code as importing a male or a female. It is thus clear that : under Section 354, Penal Code a man as well as a woman can be held guilty of the offence of assaulting or using criminal force to any woman with the intention or knowledge that the woman's modesty will be outraged, and be punished for the offence. Section 354, therefore, operates equally upon all persons whether males or females and it cannot be maintained that as women are exempt from any punishment under this section, it offends against the provisions of Article 14 of the Constitution.

Madhya Pradesh High Court
Girdhar Gopal vs State on 18 December, 1952
Equivalent citations: 1953 CriLJ 964
 

https://www.lawweb.in/2014/05/whether-women-can-outrage-modesty-of.html



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