Eve Teasing and LawThough eve- teasing and molestation are offence in India, women face these often while travelling in public transport, walking on the street and at work places.Woefully, women ignore such offences to avoid the harassment of going to police or court of law and endure a mental agony. Eve-teasing is an act of perversion that includes actions like touching, rubbing, groping, staring, pinching, slapping a woman or showing her private parts or pornographic material, which intrude upon her privacy.Although eve-teasing has not been defined as an offence in any law in India, similar behaviour is punishable under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the legal remedy available to the victim is lodging a complaint with the police or magistrate. Section 298 (A) and (B) of Indian Penal Code prescribes upto three months imprisonment for making obscene gestures or remarks to a woman.For showing pornographic or obscene pictures, books or slips to a woman, Section 292 of the IPC prescribes upto two years imprisonment. The same punishment, with or without a fine, is meted out under Section is 354 (IPC) to those who use force or assault a woman to outrage her modesty.If the complaint of making obscene gestures, indecent body language and lewd comments concerning a woman or exhibiting any such object, which intrudes upon the womans privacy is proved, Section 509 of the IPC prescribes punishment upto one year imprisonment or fine.However, these offences are bailable. More often than not, the offender easily gets away with a bail immediately on his arrest, which protects him from suffering in jail custody. The high prevalence of these offences point out that legislature should look into these provisions of law afresh and make them non-bailable to prevent their occurrence.But experts also feel that if this happens, women may misuse the law to falsely implicate anyone. The need of the hour is thus to raise awareness about the existing law at least, if not modifying it. Most of these acts cases go unreported at present, as victims are not aware if these are offences.Psychologists are of the opinion that the men indulge in these acts as they are either sexually repressed or believe that they are more powerful physically and emotionally than women. Law and police should take the offence seriously to protect the modesty of women.

What a foreigner think about womens condition in IndiaEve teasing is routine for women in public places in India and sadly, its merely one of many tools used to keep women in their place according to traditional norms. Female infanticide, selective abortions, sati (widow killing), dowry-related deaths, honour killings and sexual violence are still commonly-featured news items and their prevalence demonstrates that Indian society is still an environment of oppression against women.

Why do onlookers of such unacceptable behavior choose to be just that, onlookers? Why doesn't a single person raise a voice against eve teasers?Deserted and ill-lit areas are not the only unsafe spots that girls should avoid - they can be harassed, groped, stared at, even in the most crowded places - and people around will just carry on with their business. From the glitzy malls to overcrowded marketplaces to theatres with a 200-odd audience, to a road manned by traffic cops, girls in the city have at least one tale to share about being molested by a few louts whilethe restof the people just look on.

Malls- a haven for eve teasers?With end-of-season sales and special offers, malls witness a large footfall. And it won't take long for anyone to make out that men take advantage of the crowd to pass comments and make lewd gestures to girls. It doesn't help either that the entire vicinity is under CCTV camera surveillance. Recalls Shikha Sojatia, an MBA student, "I had gone to a mall with my friend on Independence Day, which is more crowded than the usual days sue to special discounts and offers. After a while, we realized that a gang of four boys was following us. We tried to ignore them, but they started passing obscene comments. When we complained to the malls' security guards, they didn't seem to know what to do. Finally, I had to call my brother to escort us to the mall's exit. Before this, I always thought that malls were safe and only the posh crowd frequents them. But Iguess, this men's degrading attitude towards women has nothing to do with their social status."

Theatres- So what if there are 200 more people sitting in the hall?Niharika Jain*, an entrepreneur, says, "I had gone to watch a film with my two sisters. There was a group of guys beside us who were taking loud jibes at every scene. Finally, I turned to them and very politely requested them to keep their volumes low so that we could see the film in peace. Bas, uske baad they turned their focus on us. They even started clicking our pictures on their cellphone camera. People just sat there watching us. I got up and called the theatre's manager, who just came and changed our seats. It was so humiliating; no one said a word to them and even the manager had us sit in another row, when the boys should have been asked to leave the hall. Isn't it an offence to misbehave with girls? Then why did everyone take it so normally as if nothing had happened?"MalvikaJalan, a high school student, adds, "Boys keep passing comments on girls in movie theatres. It disgusts me to no end when the people seated around just sit there as spectators. Eve teasing is so deeply ingrained in everyone's psyche that people don't bat an eyelid if a girl is being harassed."

On the streetsIf you are a girl who walks to her school, college or workplace, this might be a daily ordeal for you. Girls have to live with the fact that once they are on the streets, they will be ogled at, hooted and whistled at, passed undignified comments on, or even groped by a speeding biker or a car driver. It doesn't matter if there's a police chowki right at the other end of the road or the fact that there are traffic cops on duty.KanikaBisht, a medical practitioner, says, "It won't be any better even if you are walking in a group. But if a girl is walking on the road all by herself, it gives a licence to these lecherous men. When a girl is being harassed in public, it should be the social responsibility of people around to stand for her. I have raised my voice in support of girls in such situations, but I don't know what's wrong with people, especially men, in our society? If everyone will look the other way in such situations, it will only encourage these b***ards."Public transportCity buses are often jam-packed at office hours and the best excuse for men to bump into at a female passenger repeatedly and get away by saying, 'kya karein, jagah nahi hai'. "The other day, I was returning from college and although the bus was crowded, it had enough room for people to stand properly. There was an uncle who kept bumping into me. It took me a while to realize that he was trying to feel me up. I turned around and slapped him tight. While I started shouting at him, some of the female passengers also took my side. But all the men remained silent. They didn't say a word. The man took advantage ofthe situationand got down as soon as the bus slowed a little. Had the men in the bus nabbed him, he could have been handed over to the police," saysNikitaSalgia*, an engineering student.Ankita Saraf, a software professional, adds, "If all the commuters join hands, such eve teasers can easily be taken to task. But they remain mute spectators. The co-passengers should be ashamed of themselves. Their silence is in a way supporting such hooligans to do whatever they want to and easily get away. Kyunki koi kuchh bolne waala toh hai nahi, yeh inn logon ko bhi pata hota hai."Own vehicleAnd if you thought the best solution to avoid molesters teasers is to have your own vehicle, it won't help either. Namrata Panchal, a sales executive, says, "Girls on two wheelers and cars are not safe either. Guys will often follow you; overtake your vehicle and then slow down to start following you all over again. Some of them pass lewd comments while a girl is driving. For them, we're just soft targets who won't be able to do anything. This happens almost everyday. And no, I don't work till late at night, this happens in broad daylight when there are vehicles zipping past left right and centre. I know, people do notice that a girl is being harassed, but people just drive past. No one is bothered."Prapti, a college goer, shares, "I learnt a bitter lesson recently when I was driving to college with a friend riding pillion. Two bikers started following us. I stopped at a crowded tea stall nearby and told the guys standing there about the bikers. And the reaction we got numbed me. One of them simply said, 'madam hum police thodhi na hain; ismein hum kya karein? Aaj kal ke ladke bahut badmaash hote hain'. He was trying to explain to me that guys are anyway unruly, so it's okay if they are behaving like that. We stood there feeling disgusted and I had to finally call my father to help us."

Supreme Court on Eve teasing:2.Eve-Teasingis a euphemism, a conduct which attracts penal action but it is seen, only in one State, a Statute has been enacted, that is State of Tamil Nadu to contain the same, the consequence of which may at times drastic.Eve-teasingled to the death of a woman in the year 1998 in the State of Tamil Nadu which led the Government bringing an ordinance, namely, the Tami Nadu Prohibition ofEve-TeasingOrdinance, 1998, which later became an Act, namely, the Tamil Nadu Prohibition ofEve-TeasingAct, 1998 [for short theEve-TeasingAct]. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of theEve-TeasingAct reads as follows:public places has been a perennial problem. Recently, incidents ofeve-teasingleading to serious injuries to, and even death of a woman have come to the notice of the Government. The Government are of the view thateve-teasingis a menace to society as a whole and has to be eradicated. With this in view, the Government decided to prohibiteve-teasingin the State of Tamil Nadu.reported for duty on that date at 8.30 PM at the Courtallam Season Police out post. At about 11.00 PM he visited the Tenkasi bus stand in a drunken state and misbehaved andeve-teaseda married lady, who was waiting along with her husband, to board a bus. The respondent approached that lady with a dubious intention and threatened both husband and wife stating that he would book a case against the husband unless the lady accompanied him. Further, he had disclosed his identity as a police man. Both husband and wife got panic and complained to a police man, namely, Head Constable Adiyodi (No.1368) who was standing along with Head Constable Peter (No.1079) of Tenkasi Police Station on the opposite side of the bus-stand. They were on night duty at the bus stand. They rushed to the spot and took the respondent into custody and brought him to Tenkasi Police Station along with the husband and wife. Following that, a complaint No.625/1999 was registered on 10.7.1999 at that Police Station against the respondent under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 4 of theEve-teasingii) Highly reprehensible conduct ineve-teasingPitchammal (44/1999) W/o. Vanamamalai of Padmaneri in the presence of her husband and having approached her with a dubious intention on 9.7.1999 at 23.00 hrs. and thereby getting involved in a criminal case in Tenkasi P.S. Cr. No. 625/1999 under Section 509 IPC and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition ofEve-TeasingOrdinance Act, 1998 and

Supreme Court on Eve Teasing: In a bid to curb eve-teasing the Supreme Court has directed all States and the Union Territories to depute plain-clothed women officers at public places bus stands, railway stations, metro stations, cinema theatres, shopping malls, etc.Giving a series of directions, a Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said: Eve-teasing today has become a pernicious, horrid and disgusting practice. More and more girls and women go to educational institutions, workplaces, etc, and their protection is of extreme importance to a civilised and cultured society. The experiences of women and girlchildren in overcrowded buses, metros, trains, etc, are horrendous, and a painful ordeal.Writing the judgment, while allowing a Tamil Nadu appeal against the acquittal of policeman S. Samuthiram, who was accused of teasing a couple, Justice Radhakrishnan said: Parliament is currently considering the Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010, which is intended to protect female workers at most workplaces. Provisions of that Bill are not sufficient to curb eve teasing. Before undertaking suitable legislation to curb eve-teasing, it is necessary to take at least some urgent measures so that it can be curtailed to some extent.The Bench said: Eve-teasing is a euphemism, a conduct which attracts penal action but it is seen [that] only in Tamil Nadu a statute has been created to contain the same, the consequence of which may at times be drastic. Eve-teasing led to the death of a woman in 1998 in Tamil Nadu which led to the government bringing an ordinance, namely, the Tami Nadu Prohibition of Eve Teasing Ordinance, 1998, which later became an Act, namely, the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Eve-Teasing Act, 1998.The Bench gave the following directions: a) There will be a direction to the State governments and the Union Territories to install CCTV in strategic positions which itself would be a deterrent and if detected, the offender could be caught.b) Persons in charge of educational institutions, places of worship, cinema theatres, railway stations and bus stands have to take steps they deem fit to prevent eve-teasing within their precincts and, on a complaint being made, they must pass on the information to the nearest police station, or the Womens Help Centre.c) Where either passengers or persons in-charge of a public service vehicle indulge in eve-teasing, the crew shall, on a complaint made by the aggrieved person, take the vehicle to the nearest police station and give information to the police. Failure to do so should lead to cancellation of the permit to ply.d) The State governments and Union Territories are directed to establish Womens Helpline in various cities and towns, so as to curb eve-teasing within three months.e) Suitable boards cautioning against eve-teasing should be exhibited in the precincts of educational institutions, bus stands, railway stations, cinema theatres, parties, beaches, public service vehicles, places of worship, etc.f) Responsibility is also on passers-by who should report such incidents to the nearest police station or to the Womens Helpline.g) The State governments and the Union Territories should take effective measures by issuing suitable instructions to authorities including the District Collectors and the Superintendent of Police on effective and proper measures to curb eve-teasing.