Section 509 IPC: Statutory Remedy Available To Women Who Face Online Abuse

"A bunch of anonymous letters were received by a woman. A mere glance through those letters is enough. Any reader can perceive the foul smell of the author's filthy intentions. The victim's modesty gets hurt, injured, outraged, and terribly insulted.." These remarks were made in judgment [MM Haries vs. State of Kerala] delivered in 2005 by Justice K. Hema of Kerala High Court. Today, letters are replaced by social media which has made the criminal act easier to be committed and get away with. Many women from all walks of life face online abuse and they are not sure how to deal with it. Recently, I came across a video posted by a famous travel vlogger in Kerala in which he says that someone is abusing his wife in a very filthy language by commenting on her videos in Youtube and Facebook. Aggrieved with this, he first filed a complaint before the Cyber Police. They replied to him stating that there are no provisions in the Information Technology Act to register a crime case in the matters related to defamation. They cited the Supreme Court judgment (Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India) that struck down Section 66A IT Act. Finally they advised him to give a detailed complaint before the Police Station alleging 'defamation'.The above judgment in MM Haries is on a petition filed by a person accused of sending anonymous abusive letters to a woman police officer. In that case, the charge sheet was laid against him under Section 292, 294(b) and 506(1) of IPC. The contentions raised by the accused was that these provisions are not attracted in this case. The court refused to quash the crime observing that an offence under section 509 IPC is prima facie made out. The court found that `writing of letter' to a woman, intending to insult her modesty can be construed as `making a gesture' under section 509 IPC.Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code [After 2013 amendment] reads thus: "Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.—Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, and also with fine."This section is thankfully, gender neutral (as far as offender is concerned). Mens Rea: An intention to insult the modesty of any woman. Actus Reus: utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman.Punishment: Simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, and also with fine. The court observed that since the accused had sent letters, it cannot be said that he uttered any word, or made any sound or showed any object. Therefore it examined whether it will come within the expression `making gesture' used in section 509 IPC ? The court noted the dictionary meaning of the word `gesture' and said: "A gesture need not necessarily involve any body language. It is not necessary that a person uses any body signs to make a gesture. He can convey or express his intentions by sending a doctor, writing a letter or by making a phone call etc. In fact, the intentions of a person can be best expressed by way of writing a letter and there will be proof also for such an act. Therefore, going by the dictionary meaning, it has to be concluded that writing of a letter can be treated as `making a gesture' since by such act, the writer expresses his attitude or conveys his intentions."Justice Hema, in the above judgment, concluded thus: "There can be little doubt that the legislature would not have intended that a person who insults the modesty of a woman by his writings must be kept out of the province of section 509 IPC. In a country like India, the legislature would not have ever intended that a person who expresses his attitude or intention to insult modesty of a woman by sending a letter should be absolved from criminal liability. I am of view that the very object of the provision will be defeated if a contrary view is taken. Thus, while interpreting the meaning of the relevant expression in section 509 IPC in the light of the relevant rules of interpretation, I find that `writing of letter' to a woman, intending to insult her modesty can be construed as `making a gesture' under section 509 IPC."Modesty of Woman Following are observations made in a few judgments of the Supreme Court which dealt with the term 'modesty of woman'. Section 509 I.P.C criminalises a 'word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman' and in order to establish this offence it is necessary to show that the modesty of a particular woman or a readily identifiable group of women has been insulted by a...

Section 509 IPC: Statutory Remedy Available To Women Who Face Online Abuse

Ashok Kini

Tags