E-Paper
Woman cannot be charged for sexual harassment of another woman: Kerala High Court
The observation was made by Justice A Badharudeen while partially dismissing a woman’s marital cruelty case against her in-laws.
The Kerala High Court has observed that a woman cannot be charged with sexual harassment under Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), even if the harassment is alleged to have been directed at another woman.
The observation was made by Justice A Badharudeen while partially dismissing criminal proceedings that a woman had initiated against her in-laws in a case of marital cruelty, Bar and Bench reported.
The case involved allegations that the complainant was sexually harassed by her sister-in-law. However, the high court said that Section 354A of the IPC, which deals with sexual harassment, only applies to actions by men.
“In order to attract offence under Section 354A of IPC, the overt acts dealt under Section 354A(1), (2) and (3), should be the volition of 'a man.' So the legislature diligently used the term `a man' instead of `any person' In the statutory provision and the legislative intent is to exclude woman/women from the purview of Section 354A of IPC. If so, it has to be held that Section 354A of IPC would not apply when the overt acts dealt therein was done by a woman against another woman/ women,” the report quoted the Court as saying.
The court was dealing with a request to dismiss a case of marital cruelty filed against the complainant's mother-in-law and sister-in-law among others.
The complainant alleged that she had been mistreated by her husband, his parents and his sister. The woman alleged that she was subjected to cruelty related to demands for money and property and was even locked in a room and left without food.
Complainant alleges cruelty by in-laws
She accused her mother-in-law of trying to harm her by tampering with the gas stove and disrupting her studies, and her sister-in-law of coercing her into inappropriate sexual activities through threats.
Criminal proceedings were filed against the accused (the husband and in-laws) under Sections 498A (cruelty by a husband or relative), 354A (sexual harassment), and 34 (acts done by multiple people with a common intention) of the IPC.
The woman’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law (the petitioners) later approached the high court to have the criminal charges against them dismissed, the report added.
