Posting objectionable content on woman’s social media amounts to stalking: HC

The bench said that having a prior relationship with someone cannot be “construed as giving a licence to the applicant to post some objectionable post over the social site”

MUMBAI: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has ruled that posting objectionable content on a woman’s social media account amounts to stalking and outraging her modesty, which are both serious offences.

Mumbai, India - Aug. 28, 2015 : Bombay High Court : ( Photo by Bhushan Koyande )

The court was hearing a plea filed by a man seeking to have a police case against him quashed. The First Information Report (FIR) registered against him was under sections 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) and 354D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to the FIR, the man and the woman became friends on Facebook in 2017. The man eventually made romantic advances, which the woman rejected. The man then got annoyed and allegedly began posting objectionable material about her on her Facebook account between January and September 2019.

The woman also alleged that a day before her wedding in December 2019, the man went to her house with a bottle of poison and threatened to kill himself. Her family took him to the police station, where he apologised, so no action was taken against him. However, the man allegedly continued stalking her online and posting defamatory content on her Facebook account, trying to cause issues in her marital life.

On the other hand, the man claimed that he and the woman had been in a relationship since 2014-15, and their marriage was also finalised after their families met each other. However, the woman and her family later allegedly demanded ₹5 lakh and five acres of land for the marriage to take place. When he told them he was not in a position to fulfil their demands and asked them to return the money he had earlier lent them, they allegedly abused and threatened him.

The man then filed a complaint against the woman and her family under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation), read with Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The case is pending before a magistrate court.

Seeking the quashing of the FIR, the man told the high court that the allegations levelled against him were false, vexatious, and did not amount to harassment. However, after going through the objectionable social media posts, a division bench of justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Nandesh S Deshpande noted that the woman is a married lady, and having a prior relationship with someone cannot be “construed as giving a licence to the applicant to post some objectionable post over the social site”.

The court further said that posting objectionable content on social media “would amount to committing an offence” under the IPC. Noting the overwhelming material against the man, the court said that the proceedings against him cannot be quashed at this stage and rejected his application.