After 8-year trial, 46-year-old sentenced to 3-month jail for indecent remark on woman at railway station
While the case was registered under IPC section 354A (sexual harassment by making sexually coloured remarks), the magistrate rules that a deterrent sentence will meet the ends of justice.
3 min read
The court refused to allow the accused the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act, as per which a certain category of offenders can be released on a bond under conditions. (Representative image)A 46-year-old man has been sentenced to three months in jail by a magistrate court for passing an indecent comment on a woman at a railway station in Mumbai. The decision came after an eight-year-long trial against the man, who was granted bail after his arrest in 2016.
According to a complaint made by the woman, she was waiting for a local train near a reserved ladies’ coach at the Churchgate railway station around 2 pm on May 30, 2016, when the accused, Suresh Kumar, made the indecent comment while passing by. She chased him and a ticket inspector present on the platform caught him. They handed him over to the police at the railway station.
Kumar was subsequently arrested under section 354A(1) (iv) (sexual harassment by making sexually coloured remarks) of the Indian Penal Code on her complaint.
During the trial, the accused had claimed he was falsely implicated, but the court said there was no motive for the woman to lodge a false complaint against him as they were strangers to each other. The court also said that while there were no witnesses to the incident apart from the woman, the sequence of events were corroborated through the testimonies of the others. The ticket inspector, police on duty and the investigating officer also deposed during the trial.
The court, however, said that considering only the comment made by the accused, he cannot be convicted under IPC section 354A. The court instead convicted him under IPC section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).
“Considering the nature of the offence and the fact that the accused has made verbal comments with the intention of insulting or outraging the modesty of the complainant in a public place, the court is of the opinion that a deterrent sentence is necessary,” the metropolitan magistrate said in an order on October 15.
The court refused to allow the accused the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act, as per which a certain category of offenders can be released on a bond under conditions.
The court said the three-month sentence would meet the ends of justice. It also ordered the accused to pay a fine of Rs 3,000 with an additional 15 days in jail if the fine is not paid.
You May Like
Photos
