The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has acquitted a man who was convicted in 2018 for allegedly molesting a mentally challenged woman, ruling that merely pulling a woman’s hand—without clear evidence of intent—does not automatically amount to outraging her modesty under Section 354 of the IPC. Justice RN Manjula made this observation while allowing the appeal filed by Murugesan, who had been sentenced by a lower court to three years of rigorous imprisonment.
According to the prosecution, the alleged incident took place on May 4, 2015, when Murugesan, belonging to the Hindu Maravar community, pulled the hand of a Scheduled Caste woman who was grazing cattle near Nedunkulam Channel, and also abused her by her caste. While the trial court had acquitted him under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, it found him guilty of outraging the woman’s modesty.
In appeal, the High Court noted inconsistencies in the testimony of the prosecution’s key eyewitness, who alternated between claiming to have seen the incident and admitting she arrived only after the accused had left. It also highlighted that the victim, due to her mental condition, could not provide reliable testimony. These factors, combined with the lack of concrete proof of intent, led to Murugesan’s acquittal.
