Madras HC upholds lower court ruling in eveteasing case

Chennai (PTI): Upholding a lower court order of five years' Rigorous Imprisonment to nine persons in an eve-teasing case,' the Madras High Court on Friday observed that the "entire case on hand tells tales of woes faced by women and girls day in and day out."
"Apart from rape, girls and women are being subjected to harassment in the form of eve-teasing, an euphemism used in our country for sexual harassment.... it is a typical social crime, violating a woman's right to live in dignity," Justice S K Krishnan said.
Dismissing the appeal by the accused against the additional sessions court order in 2001, the judge, who confirmed the sentence, also ordered the appellants, who are on bail, to surrender their bail bonds and serve the sentence.
The accused were convicted under various IPC sections including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The Judge said the act by the accused showed their indecent behaviour in public place towards innocent girls, with their teasing of Sarika Shah resulting in her unnatural death.
"A social responsibility is cast on every individual to protect and ensure safer conditions of living to our future generations and to question and thwart any attempt by miscreants to destroy the same to avoid recurrence of such incidents," the judge said.
Sarika Shah, a second year BBM student at a woman's college here, suffered head injuries and died in hospital five days later when she fell down after one of the accused pounced on her from a running auto while she was walking on the road on July 18, 1998.
The Hindu; Friday, March 14, 2008