‘Haram’ insults a woman’s modesty: Delhi court convicts man for obscene remark at neighbour

A Delhi court has ruled that the word ‘haram’—often used to describe something forbidden or impure—can amount to an insult to a woman’s modesty, particularly when used in a sexually suggestive or derogatory manner.

Judicial Magistrate First Class made the observation while convicting a man under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with words, gestures or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman.

“The word ‘haram’ is not a word used simply to insult a person. The word ‘haram’ means something forbidden and earned with ill-gotten/bastardised means,” the court noted in its order.

The case, which dates back to 2017, involved a woman who had filed a complaint against her neighbour, accusing him of repeatedly passing lewd comments. One of the remarks, which formed the basis of the conviction, was: “Haram ka maal le ke aa gayi hai, kitno se karwa ke aai hai.”

The court held that such language directly impugned the woman’s character and carried sexual undertones that were far from casual abuse.

“The word ‘haram’ denoted that the woman was not loyal,” the judge stated.

“The words ‘kitno se karwa ke aai hai’ are not a simple insult but directly hit at the sex of a woman... The words also mean that she is engaged in sexual intercourse with various people.”

The defence argued that no independent eyewitness had corroborated the complaint, and that the case rested solely on the complainant's statement. However, the court said that the words used were “intended to insult the modesty of the complainant” and convicted the accused accordingly.

This judgment reinforces the legal stance that derogatory language targeting a woman's character can carry serious consequences under Indian law, even in the absence of eyewitness testimony.

(Inputs from ToI)