India
It is natural for people in love to hug and kiss, it is not sexual harassment: Madras High Court | India News – Times of India
The Srivaikuntam All Women police had accused the man of sexually harassing a 19-year-old woman. In 2023, the man filed a petition in the court to quash the FIR registered against him.
According to the case, the man and the woman had been in love for three years. In November 2022, he took the woman to a lonely place where they talked from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Suddenly he hugged the woman and kissed her. The woman returned home and informed her parents about the relationship. Later she proposed to the man. But the man refused and started avoiding her. The woman then reported the incident to the police, on the basis of which a report was drawn up against him for sexual harassment.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh observed: “To constitute an offense under Section 354-A(1)(i) of the IPC, a man must make physical contact and advances involving unwanted and explicit sexual advances. Even if the accusations are taken as they are. It is very normal for two people in their teenage years who are in a love relationship to hug or kiss each other. This cannot in any case constitute an offense under Section 354-A(1)(i) of the IPC.”
No offense has been committed against the petitioner even if the allegations in the FIR are accepted as they are. Therefore, criminal proceedings against the petitioner will result in abuse of justice, the judge noted.
