Delhi court has pronounced that showing middle finger can be considered as an assault.
As per to a recent judgment by a Delhi court, showing the middle finger to a woman can invite imprisonment up to 3 years. 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 Case
A Delhiite 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 the modesty of a woman) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt).
The woman had also alleged that her brother-in-law slapped her. 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 that the gesture intends to insult the modesty of a woman. The accused now faces a jail term of up to three years and a fine.
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