NEW DELHI: In a verdict against gender abuse, a Delhi court has held that the word ‘r**di’ (sex worker) is not a casual insult but one that attacks a woman’s modesty, dignity and character.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Harjot Singh Aujila of the Dwarka Courts made the observation while convicting one Vikrant Grewal for outraging the modesty of a woman and criminally intimidating her.
The case stemmed from a 2021 complaint where the accused was alleged to have repeatedly harassed the complainant, a married woman with a daughter, using vulgar language over phone calls and also by coming to her rented home.
The court called such language an “assault on the sex of a woman”.
“The word ‘r**di’ is not a word used simply to insult. It denotes that the woman is not loyal. It is bound to insult the modesty of any hardworking woman… it casts an aspersion on her character,” the judge said.
The court found Grewal guilty under Section 509 IPC (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), stating that the intention behind the abuse was evident and unequivocal. Additionally, he was convicted under Section 506 IPC for criminal intimidation, having threatened her with rape and murder.