Calling unknown women ‘darling’ is sexually coloured remark: Calcutta High Court

Calcutta High Court upheld the conviction of a man who called a woman police officer ‘darling’ while intoxicated.

Emphasising that the remark is sexually coloured in nature, the court also said it would be punishable under two sections of the Indian Penal Code. Justice Jay Sengupta clarified that the term should not be used to address ‘unsuspecting and unacquainted women.’

The Calcutta High Court’s observation was connected to the case of Janak Ram, who has already been convicted for the remark. The inebriated man asked the woman constable ‘kya darling, challan karne aayi hai kya?’ (Hi, darling, have you come to impose a fine?).

“Addressing an unknown lady, whether a police constable or not, on the street by a man, drunken or not, with the word 'darling' is patently offensive, and the word used is essentially a sexually coloured remark,” the court said, as per India Today.

The act would be considered a criminal offence under Sections 354A (outraging modesty of a woman) and 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.

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