Section 509 IPC criminalises words, sounds, gestures or acts intended to insult a woman’s modesty, as well as intrusions into her privacy. The provision prescribes a maximum sentence of 3 years’ imprisonment and a fine.
Justice SR Krishna Kumar quashed criminal proceedings against two women, aged 25 and 27, accused of body-shaming and verbally abusing another woman in Bengaluru.
“Having regard to the mandatory ingredients required to constitute an offence under Section 509 IPC, merely because the petitioners and accused No.3 (the women accused of body-shaming) are said to have bodyshamed the complainant and insulted her about her physical appearance, it cannot be said that the material on record discloses the commission of the offence punishable under Section 509 IPC,” the Court said.