Metropolitan Magistrate VP Kedar rejected the man’s plea that the act was not deliberate, but a commuter behind him had pushed him and he consequently, he fell on the woman resulting in his lips touching her cheek.
The Court said that a woman has the ability to gauge a man’s intention from his look and touch.
“It is said that the women are far more perceptive than men, and this has given rise to what is commonly referred to as women’s intuition. Women have innate ability to pick up and decipher non verbal signals as well as having an accurate eye for small details………Woman knows a man’s intention when he touches her or looks her,” the Court stated.
There is no reason to doubt the version of the victim and prosecution witness 2 both of whom have deposed in one voice.
“Their testimonies had gone unchallenged and remained unshaken. Mere suggestion that the incident occurred inadvertently does not come rescue of the accused in absence of any further explanation or some material which could be acceptable,” the Court held.
The Court, therefore, convicted and sentenced Kiran Subraya Honavar, observing that his act amounted to an attack on the victim’s dignity and deserved conviction under Section 354 (outraging modesty of woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Source: Barandbench
