A 25-year-old businessman in Mumbai was found guilty and is given a one-and-a-half-year term of imprisonment for reportedly harassing a 16-year-old schoolgirl and referring to her as an "item."
“Not being related in any way and not being in any kind of relationship, it was wholly inappropriate of the [man] to act in the way in which he did… having addressed her by using the term ‘item' … used generally by boys to address girls in a derogatory fashion as it objectifies them in a sexual manner,” the court ruled, denying to give the man any lesser punishment.
In his ruling on October 20 in the seven-year-old case, Judge SJ Ansari of the Borivali court stated: "Using the term 'item' to address any girl is obviously insulting in nature." The girl and her parents reported the offender, Abrar Noor Mohammad Khan, and his companions to the cops following the incident on July 14, 2015. The 16-year-old claimed in her evidence that the accused was hanging out on a street with his companions and that, at around 2.15 p.m., as she was returning from school, the defendant was still seated on his bike across the street.
The girl allegedly claimed that when the accused saw her, he approached her from behind, grabbed her hair, and made the comment ‘kya item kidhar ja rahi ho'. Additionally, she also said she pushed him away while requesting that he stop. The suspect allegedly told the victim he was free to do whatever he desired and shortly after started abusing her. According to reports, the teen quickly dialled 100, however by the moment police arrived, the suspect had already left. The complainant immediately told her father about the actual encounter.
Without any supporting proof, Khan had stated that he was acquainted well with the girl, whose parents had made a fake allegation because they did not approve of their friendship. According to the court, those who "make the lives of the girls miserable by teasing them and touching them inappropriately when they walk on the road" should get "a sentence sufficient to send out a proper message to the society at large."
The court sentenced him to one and a half years in prison for sexual harassment under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code and a comparable term under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act while clearing him of more serious allegations and certain connected offences. He would spend only 18 months in prison because the sentences will run simultaneously. This would be deducted from the approximately four months of custody time he had already completed upon his arrest.
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