'You are slim & fair, I like you': Midnight messages to married woman amount to obscenity, says court

The sessions court has upheld the conviction of a man who sent messages around midnight to a married woman, along with an image that the complainant said was obscene, reports Swati Deshpande. The court said the messages contained text such as "You are slim", "You are looking very smart", "You are fair", "My age is 40 years", "Are you married or not?" and "I like you".

Finding no error in the guilty verdict given by a magistrate in 2022, additional sessions judge D G Dhoble said "obscenity must be judged from the perspective of an average person applying contemporary community standards". The sessions court said the woman was a corporator and her husband a former corporator.

"No married woman or her husband, who are reputed and a corporator, would bear such WhatsApp and obscene photos sent on her cell from 11 pm to 12.30 am when there is no relationship with the sender," the sessions court said. The court upheld the three months' simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 imposed on the convict. The magistrate directed the victim be paid a compensation of Rs 3,000. The did not find merit in the defence of the accused over the alleged victim's phone not being seized.

"No woman would stake her dignity by implicating the accused in a false case," the court said and accepted her oral evidence of having received an obscene image.

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