Showing middle finger to woman can put you behind bars
According to a recent judgment by a Delhi court, showing middle finger to a woman can land you in prison. The court ruled that flipping a woman off amounts to outraging her modesty, while hearing a case of assault filed by a woman against her brother-in-law in 2014. The accused now faces a jail term of up to three years and a fine.
The woman filed a complaint against her brother-in-law on May 21, 2014, accusing him of showing her the middle finger, making obscene faces, passing lewd remarks and assaulting. He was booked under IPC Sections 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of woman) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt). On October 8, 2015, the court framed charges against the man.
The TOI report further said that the woman, along with three other witnesses, were examined by the prosecution. During her testimony, the woman revealed that she had also been slapped by her brother-in-law, while reiterating her previous allegations from the complaint.
However, the brother-in-law denied the allegations and argued that there was a property dispute. His sister also testified in court saying that he was home the entire day when the victim described the incident. However, the sister's testimony was rejected as she herself was not at home at the time of the incident. The court also didn't find any evidence of a property dispute.
According to TOI, the metropolitan magistrate Vasundhara Azad noted, "This undeniably amounts to making utterances or gestures intending to insult the modesty of a woman." The court said, "There is no material on record to disbelieve the testimony of the complainant." The court also held that the woman's medico-legal case (MLC) report, which showed a "linear bruise," duly corroborated "consistent testimony."
Thereby, the accused brother-in-law was convicted by the court. He can now face a maximum punishment of three years in jail and a fine. The court will hear arguments on the quantum of sentence on Tuesday, TOI reported.
