Madras HC Acquits Man Of Outraging Modesty Without Intent

National National

Posted by AI on 2025-08-13 11:52:41 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-14 01:55:43

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Pulling someone's hand doesn't imply intention to outrage modesty, Madras High Court has said, acquitting a man charged with Sucha violation. The bench of Justice RN Manjula emphasised that intent cannot be presumed from vague or generalised witness statements.

The incident occurred in September when the accused, identified as M. Yuvaraj, was commuting on a public bus. He inadvertently grabbed the victim's hand to maintain balance due to the crowdedness. The victim, a teenager, realised that Yuvaraj's hand was on hers and immediately got off the bus, followed by her sister, to confront Yuvaraj.

They complained to the police, which arrested Yuvaraj, leading to his prosecution under section 354 of the Indian Penal Code, which outrages modesty of women. Yuvaraj was acquitted of all charges by the High Court, citing a lack of evidence of intent to offend.

The bench deemed the witness statements vague and characterised the teenager's reaction as "over-sensitive". Accordingly, it held that the prosecution had not satisfied the burden of proof. The court concluded by stating that pulling someone's hand alone does not justify a charge of outraging modesty without intent.

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