A Surat court has sentenced a man to six months in prison for making “sexually coloured remarks” to a woman nearly 10 years ago, based on the confessional statement of the survivor. The magistrate, after reviewing the statements of the survivor, her parents and other witnesses, found the accused, Mahir Shaikh, guilty under Section 354(A) of the IPC, which pertains to sexual harassment involving unwelcome physical contact and verbal advances, on December 31. The court concluded, based on the sworn evidence, that it was “proven without a doubt” that the accused had made a “sexually coloured remark.”
The case dates back to 10 October 2015, when the survivor, who was 21 years old at the time, was returning from the gym on her two-wheeler. In her confessional statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC, she informed the court that the accused commented, “Wah! Kya cheez hai!” when she stopped her vehicle for traffic to clear. She went home, told her parents about the incident, and left for her tuition classes.
Later that day, Shaikh, 32, along with his accomplice, Adil Shaikh and others, allegedly arrived at her house and damaged vehicles and CCTV cameras. Following this, the survivor’s mother filed a complaint on October 13, 2015, against both Shaikh and Adil, who were residents of Nanpura. A case was registered under various sections of the IPC, including 354(A), 506(2) (criminal intimidation), 427 (mischief causing damage of at least Rs 50) and 114 (abetment).
The two accused were arrested and later released on bail. The survivor then recorded her statement before the judicial magistrate, where she stated that Mahir Shaikh verbally abused her in the presence of Adil. The court found that the complainant’s statement was consistent with her father’s statement to both the police and the judge. The court ruled that the survivor’s father’s testimony was not “hearsay” and was admissible under Section 6 of the Evidence Act.
However, the charges under the other sections could not be substantiated, leading to the acquittal of the two accused on those counts, as they were given the benefit of the doubt. The survivor’s mother expressed satisfaction with the court’s ruling. She explained that the convicted youth and his friend were residents of their area and had regularly harassed her daughter. The accused had also damaged their vehicles parked outside their house at night. To identify the culprits, they installed CCTV cameras. The survivor, now married with children and living in Vadodara, was giving tuitions at home at the time. The accused, who are also married with children, still reside in their area in Surat.
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