Cannot infer that sound made by neighbour from his house was with sexual intent: Bombay High Court grants anticipatory bail in stalking case

The Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to three men who were booked for stalking and outraging the modesty of a woman belonging to scheduled caste (SC) community..While dealing with the anticipatory bail plea of the accused, Justice Vibha Kankanwadi observed that merely because some sound is created by neighbour in his house, it cannot be inferred that the same was done with sexual intent towards the complainant-woman. The complainant-woman had claimed that the accused committed acts like whistling from the terrace, making noise with the help of utensils and making different kinds of sounds."All those acts appeared to have been committed from the house of the appellants and it cannot be even prima facie inferred that it was with some such nature. Merely because some sound is created by a person in his house we cannot directly infer that it is with such an intention that it is with sexual nature towards the informant,” the Court said.The Court further noted that the FIR failed to specify how any of the appellants had touched the body of the informant with sexual intent to attract the related offence under the SC/ST Act.All the alleged acts appeared to have been committed from the terrace of the accused-appellants and there could be no ready inference that these acts had a sexual undertone, the Judge noted.“In order to attract this offence there should be use of words, acts or gestures of a sexual nature towards a woman belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe knowing that she belongs to such caste or tribe. FIR stated that such acts by the accused were committed from terrace which would cause outraging of modesty of the informant, however, details of those acts are missing," the Court said.The Court also observed that even though the complainant had alleged that the accused had abused her in chorus, the complainant’s caste did not form a part of the abuse. The Court expressed doubts as to whether such abuse can be given in chorus. “If we consider that abuse was with an intention to insult the informant; yet, it is to be noted that it is alleged to have been uttered in chorus, which is an unbelievable act. Abuses cannot be given in chorus”, the Court said. .The complainant had also alleged that one of the accused used to watch her in a manner that outraged her modesty and that he had shot videos of her on his phone. After the woman complained about the three accused to their landlord, the accused were alleged to have verbally abused her in the name of her caste.The men were booked for offences of outraging the modesty of a woman, and stalking under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as offences under the Information Technology Act, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (SC/ST Act)..The Court opined that, prima facie, many of the alleged acts did not attract provisions of the SC/ST Act. The Court also took note of submissions by the appellant-accused that the FIR was filed after some delay and in retaliation after their landlord declined to sell certain property to the complainant. The bench went on to observe that,“We cannot ignore the fact that there are complaints by the appellants against the informant and her husband and the writing given to Police Inspector, Newasa Police Station on 25.05.2022 by both the parties would show that some compromise had taken place. Certainly there is delay in lodging the First Information Report .... Sufficient material is before this Court to infer that the FIR has been lodged with the ulterior motive ... "As regards the IPC offences were concerned, the Court opined that physical custody of the accused was not required for the investigation. As such, the High Court granted anticipatory bail in the matter..[Read order]