Outraging modesty

A local court in Mumbai ...

Bombay High Court grants anticipatory bail to a rickshaw driver on the grounds that expressing liking for a minor girl by holding her hand did not amount to outraging the modesty of the girl

The Bombay High Court at Aurangabad bench recently dismissed a criminal revision application filed by one Parmeshwar Dhage (accused/convict/applicant) convicted by a trial court for touching the feet of a woman in her sleep and ruled that it amounts to violation of modesty of a woman, which is punishable under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code if any one touches any part of a woman without her consent.

A local court in Madhubani, Bihar has ordered a Dhobi (washerman), accused of attacking and outraging the modesty of women, to wash the clothes of all women in the town for six months without any charge, as a bail condition.

Nine women lawyers, including Supreme Court advocate Aparna Bhat, have sought a stay in a July 30 order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in which a judge had given bail to a sexual offender on the condition that he ties a rakhi on the woman whose modesty he allegedly outraged.