Subjecting of women to cruelty in the guise of ceremonies condemned

No one has the right to force another person into any act in the name of ceremony, which by its nature causes pain and suffering and results in cruelty to a person.
Madras High Court (File|PTI)
Madras High Court (File|PTI)

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has strongly condemned the practice of subjecting women to cruelty in the guise of ceremonies. No one has the right to force another person into any act in the name of ceremony, which by its nature causes pain and suffering and results in cruelty to a person. Such acts can never be justified even if it had been followed for a very long time, Justice N Anand Venkatesh has said.

A ceremony which affects the dignity of a person and which on the face of it is inhuman, the same offends Article 21 of the Constitution and persons who commit such acts in the name of ceremony will have to be dealt with in accordance with law and stringent punishment must be imposed. A strong message must be sent to society that cruel acts in the name of ceremony will not be tolerated and will be dealt with severely by courts. “It is time that courts send a strong message to the society that such grotesque acts will not be tolerated and courts will not turn a blind eye when such incidents are brought to its notice,” the judge added.

The judge was passing orders on a revision petition from Chinnaponnu and three others, all in-laws of a young woman, who were punished by the Judicial Magistrate No-II in Dharmapuri to undergo imprisonment for one year with a fine of `500 each. This order was confirmed by the Principal Sessions Judge in Dharmapuri on July 30, 2010. The four challenged the sessions court order.

According to prosecution, the young woman was forcibly taken to Thoppiyar Dam in the midnight of February 12, 2001, her clothes were removed, head tonsured and tongue burnt with a red hot needle. Her thali was removed. It was however, tied again by her husband, who was present. All this was done on the allegation that she was possessed by some evil spirit.

Following a complaint from the victim and her father, a case was registered by All Women Police Station in Dharmapuri, five days later. The trial court awarded the sentence which was confirmed by the Sessions court in 2010.

The judge, however, taking into consideration the passage of 17 years from the date of occurrence and the age of the accused, who were all women, modified the sentence of one year imprisonment to a term already undergone by them. Each petitioner should deposit a compensation of `15,000 in the case account within eight weeks. The victim is entitled to withdraw the same, the judge added.

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