Malayalam Abuse 'P***di Mone' Means 'Son Of Sex Worker', Not Casteist Slur : Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that the Malayalam phrase- 'pulayadi mone', meaning 'son of a prostitute' is not a castiest slur to attract an offence under the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.Justice C S Sudha observed thus, “Going by the dictionary meaning, the word പുലയടി മോനെ means son of a prostitute. That being so, the learned counsel for the appellant/A3 is right in saying that the same is not a casteist slur.”The Court was considering an appeal moved by the appellant who is the third accused alleged of abusing and causing hurt to persons belonging to the Pulaya Community. Accused were alleged to have committed offences punishable under Section 329 (3), 115(2), 118(1) read with 3(5) of the BNS, Section 3 (1) (r) (intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of SC/ST in public view), (s) (abuses any member of a SC or ST by caste name in any place within public view) of the SC/ST Act. The Special Court dismissed the petition for pre- arrest bail and appeal was moved before the High Court. The Court noted that the FIR does not mention that the prosecution has a case attracting an offence under Section 3 (1) (s) or (r) of the Act. Court stated that an offence under the Act is not made out solely because the informant is a member of the scheduled caste. It stated that there must be an intention to humiliate a member of scheduled caste or scheduled tribe because the victim belongs to such caste to attract an offence under the Act. Court stated, “All insults or intimidation to a person will not be an offence under the Act unless such insult or intimidation is on account of the victim belonging to the scheduled caste or scheduled tribe. The object of the Act is to improve the socio-economic conditions of the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes as they are denied number of civil rights. Thus, an offence under the Act would be made out when a member of the vulnerable section of the Society is subjected to indignities, humiliations and harassment. The Court found that the altercation of the accused and the complainants occurred due to a vehicle dispute. It said, “Therefore, prima facie it is doubtful whether the offence under Section 3(1)(r) of the Act will be made out.”The Court further added that the accused abused the complainant not in public view, and nobody else has witnessed it. Court stated, “ Therefore, if at all the aforesaid word is taken as a casteist slur, it does not seem to have been done in public view.”As such, the Court observed that there is no prima facie material to attract offence under Section 3 (1) (s) or (r) of the Act. The Court thus allowed the pre arrest bail of the accused. Counsel for Appellant: Advocate Mini V A, Ross Ann BabuCounsel for Respondents: Public Prosecutor Sheeba ThomasCase Number: CRL.A NO. 2385 OF 2024Case Title: Sarath K S v State of Kerala Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 24Click here to Read/Download Order

Malayalam Abuse 'P***di Mone' Means 'Son Of Sex Worker', Not Casteist Slur : Kerala High Court

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