On Thursday, the Bombay High Court questioned if a woman can be hold accountable of outraging the modesty of another woman and sought the legal provisions for it.
On Thursday, a division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice V L Achliya was hearing a petition by a family of six from Borivli, including a 78-year-old matriarch Sarlaben Shah, seeking to nullify an FIR registered against them by their neighbour Preeta Jain (55).
It all started with an argument over grilles that the Shahs fitted outside their groundfloor flat, which was objected by their neighbours, including the Jain family. During a spat, Sarlaben’s granddaughter was allegedly assaulted and jostled.
On October 23, 2009, she lodged a complaint of molestation against Jain’s son and husband and an FIR was filed. A few months later, on February 27, 2010, the Jains also got an FIR booked against the Shahs and the charges included molestation.
In the court, Shah’s advocate Pradeep Havnur raised question how two FIRs could be registered for the same incident. “It is absurd that a 78-year-old woman can be accused of molesting another woman,” he exclaimed.
The judges, at that, questioned if a woman could indeed molest another woman. “This is a serious question. Can a woman molest another woman? Even scientifically? Because there are the allegations,” said Justice Patil. “Go through the law. If a woman does commit such an act, can she be tried under the available law for molesting a woman?”