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Calling
unknown woman
'darling' is
sexual harassment

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• The Calcutta High Court upheld the conviction of a man,
who called a woman constable "darling" in an inebriated
condition, saying such an expression is sexually coloured
and penalised under Sections 354A (outraging modesty of
a woman) and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"Addressing an unknown lady, whether a police constable

or not, on the street by a man, drunken or not, with the
word 'darling' is patently offensive, and the word used is
essentially a sexually coloured remark," the bench noted.

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• The single-judge Justice Jay Sengupta at the High
Court's Port Blair bench made the observation while
upholding the conviction of one Janak Ram who had
called a woman constable "darling" in an inebriated
condition.

• Justice Sengupta said that as of now the standards of

Indian society are not that a man can "gleefully be
permitted" to use expressions such as the usage of the
word 'darling' with respect to "unsuspecting,
unacquainted women".

• The court further said that if the incident happened

when the appellant was in a sober state, the "gravity of
the offence would perhaps be even more".

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• The Case:
i. While addressing a complaint received; few of the policemen including the woman constable stayed
back at the location. When they decided to go under a streetlight in front of a shop as the place was
dark, the appellant (Janak Ram) asked her the sexually coloured question.
ii. Janak Ram had asked the woman constable (the complainant in the case) "kya darling, challan
karne aayi hai kya? (Hi, darling, have you come to impose a fine?)".
iii. An FIR in this regard under Sections 354A (1) (iv) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult
the modesty of a woman) of the IPC was filed.
iv. The Judicial Magistrate convicted him for offences under Sections 354A(1)(iv) and 509 of IPC and
sent him to a three-month jail and also directed him to pay a fine of Rs 500 for each of the two
offences.
v. Janak Ram's appeal against the same was rejected by the Additional Sessions Judge, Then, he filed
the current petition before the Calcutta High Court.
vi. During the hearing, Justice Sengupta-led bench noted there was adequate evidence to prove Janak
Ram had indeed addressed the woman constable in the manner alleged.
vii. However, the High Court observed that Janak Ram did not "aggravate" the offence and stopped at
uttering the offensive word only. Therefore, his jail term was reduced to one month imprisonment.

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