Kerala court says sexual harassment invalid if woman wears provocative dress: When rulings let down women

From observation on marital rapes to what constitutes aggravated sexual assault under the POCSO Act, courts across India have made statements that have angered women and child right activists as well as people on social media. Here are a few such instances when rulings fell short of expectations Kozhikode sessions court in Kerala on Wednesday granted bail to author and social activist Civic Chandran in a sexual harassment case, observing that the complaint is invalid when the woman was wearing “sexually provocative dress”. 🤲👏 Honble Court should define 'Sexually provocative dress' 🙄 https://t.co/7JDslAOCQO — SAKSHI 🇮🇳🦋 August 17, 2022 Let’s take a look at some of the controversial statements made by courts in India: Sexual assault under POCSO needs skin to skin contact A Bombay High Court judge, Pushpa Ganediwala, courted controversy over a series of judgments on child sexual abuse and received nationwide criticism from women and child rights activists for her interpretation of sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Oral sex doesn’t fall under ‘aggravated sexual assault’ in POCSO In November 2021, the Allahabad High Court reduced the jail sentence of a man convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy, saying that oral sex does not fall in the category of “aggravated sexual assault or sexual assault” as per the provisions of the POCSO Act. A bench comprising Justice S. Talapatra and Justice S.G. Chattopadhyay observed: “This circumstance indicates that the appellant desired to restore his matrimonial relationship with his wife but his reluctant wife was not willing to reunite with him which might have caused a sense of frustration in the appellant.” Unbecoming of an Indian woman to sleep after being raped In June 2020, the Karnataka High Court allowed the pre-arrest bail of a man accused of rape, noting that it was “unbecoming” of an alleged rape survivor to have slept after she was “ravished”.