The document summarizes various offenses against women under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It discusses the offenses of rape, outraging modesty of women, insulting modesty, and recently added offenses like sexual harassment, stalking, and acid attacks. For rape, it provides the definition and punishment and analyzes the Mathura rape case. It also summarizes two other Supreme Court cases - one related to outraging modesty and another related to gang rape. The document aims to educate about women-centric crimes and the laws enacted to protect women.

1. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
OFFENCES AGAINST WOMEN UNDER
IPC

2. INTRODUCTION
There is one quote of Swami Vivekananda- “That country & that
nation that doesn’t respect women have never become great, nor
ever be in future”. Violence against women is witnessed by
everyone all over the world in some or the other manner. It takes
place under all age groups. According to the ​National Crime
Record Bureau​, in India, there is one dowry death in the country
every 78 h, one act of sexual harassment every 59 min, one rape
every 34 min, one act of torture every 12 min and almost one in
every three married women experienced domestic violence. The
main cause for crimes against women is we all live in a male
dominated society where a woman needs a man to protect her
from a man. Also there is a disparity between gender, caste, class
and sexual orientation.

3. The Indian Penal Code(IPC) provides different provisions to
punish the offender for heinous offences committed against
women. Women may be victim of any of the crimes like murder,
robbery, cheating etc. but the crimes which are directed
particularly against women are called as ‘Offences against
Women’.
Under IPC, the offences has been classified into various
categories:
1)Rape :
● What constitutes rape?
Section 375 ​of IPC, defines rape. In simple terms, it
means forciable ravishment of a woman by a man,
without her consent, by force, fraud or fear & also the
penetration of male organ of reproduction into women
by force against her will. For any crime to take place
there must be an actus reus(any action which
constitutes crime) in this context it is given under
provision of ​Section 375(a) to (d)​ and mens
rea(intention of wrongdoing that constitutes a crime)
that is sexual intercourse must be any of seven
circumstances given under Section 375.
This offence violates Article 14 (right to equality), Article 21
(right to life), Article 19(1)(a)(right to freedom of speech &
expression) and Article 15(right not to be discriminated
against on the ground of gender) of the constitution.

5. ● Punishment for rape:
Section 376 of IPC gives the provision for punishment for
rape. This section is divided into two sub-sections:
Section 376(1)​ in which there is minimum imprisonment for 7
years but depending on the case it can be upto life imprisonment
& shall also be liable to fine. But in some aggravated situations
there is imprisonment for a term which may not be less than 10
years but may extend to imprisonment for life, & also be liable to
fine.
But after the ​Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013​, five
sub-section were added in this section, section 376A had been
inserted which states that if the offender inflicts an injury which
causes the death of the person or causes the person to be in a
persistent vegetative state,shall be punished with the
imprisonment of minimum 20 years which may extend to
imprisonment for life, or with death. Section 376B talks about
sexual intercourse of husband upon his wife during separation,
punishment of which shall not be less than 2 years but may extent
to 7 years & shall also be liable to fine.

6. Section 376(2)​ under which there is Section 376C which talks
about sexual intercourse by a person in authority, punishment of
which there is minimum of five imprisonment but which may
extent to ten years and shall also be liable to fine. And
Section376D which prescribes the punishment for gangrape that
is when a woman is raped by the group of persons then they will
be liable for rigorous punishment of not less than 20 years which
may extent to life imprisonment and also liable to fine.
Section 376E this section prescribes the punishment for repeat
offenders that is whoever has been previously convicted of an
offence punishable under Section 376 or Section 376A or Section
376D and is subsequently convicted of an offence punishable
under any of said sections shall be punished with the
imprisonment for life.
❏ Rape is non-bailable(serious crime where a
person cannot ask to be released on bail as a
matter of right only the courts can grant it) and
cognizable(such heinous crime where the police
can arrest without a warrant & start investigation
without the permission of the court) offence.
★CASE LAWS:
1)​Mathura rape case​ or ​Tukaram v. State of Maharashtra​:

7. Facts: In this case Mathura, a Harijan girl had a sexual
intercourse with a boy, named Ashok. Her brother filed a
complaint at Police Station that his sister had been kidnapped by
Ashok. After some time Mathura was brought to the Police Station
& her statement was recorded. There were 2
constables(appellants) present at that time. The appealants asked
Mathura to stay inside & asked her companions to wait outside.
One of the accused took her into the washroom & raped her
inspite of her protest, the other constable wanted to rape her but
couldn’t as he was highly intoxicated. Afterwards, Mathura
emerged out & alleged that one of the constables had raped her.
Then an FIR was lodged on behalf of her statement. Doctor’s
report stated that there was no injury on the body of Mathura. The
appellant contended that since there was no direct evidence of
the consent of the girl to the alleged act of sexual intercourse, it is
evident that she did it with her passive submission.
Judgement: The court held that since no marks of injury was
found on the body of the girl after the incident & this indicates that
the intercourse was a peaceful affair & the story made by the girl
was fictitious, after this case it was interpreted by the apex court
in many cases that it is not important that there must be some
injury in the body of the victim.

8. After this case ​The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1983​ added
Section 114(A) under evidence act which states that if the victim
says she didn’t consent to sexual intercourse, the court shall
presume that she didn’t consent as a rebuttable
presumption(assumption by court taken to be true), 4 different
provision of Section376 that is Section 376A,376B, 376C, 376D
were added which made custodial rape(rape under custody)
punishable. Also, the burden of proof shifted from the accuser to
the accused after confirmation of intercourse, it also added
provisions for in-camera trials, prohibition on victim identity
disclosure & tougher sentences.
2) Priya Patel v. State of M.P​:
The victim was returning home after her sports meet & the
husband of the appellant met her at railway station & told her that
her father has sent him to pick her. He took her to his house &
raped. During the commission of rape, appellant(the wife) entered
the room & the victim asked for help but instead of saving her, the
appellant slapped her & closed the door and left the place of the
incident. The accused husband was charged under ​Section 376​,
IPC whereas the appellant was charged for commission of
offence punishable under Section 376(2)(g), IPC.
The appellant challanged the legality of the charge on the ground
that since a woman cannot commit rape & so cannot be convicted
for commission of ‘gang rape’.

9. Judgement: The court held that a woman cannot said to have an
intention to commit rape. Therefore, the appellant cannot be
prosecuted for alleged commission of an offence punishable
under Section 376(2)(g).
2) Outraging the Modesty of Women:
Section 354​ of IPC deals with the offence of molestation that is
assault or use of criminal force to women or even threaten to use
force, with the intent to outrage her modesty or knowing it to be
likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty. The law doesn’t
explain as to what constitutes “outraging of modesty”, this is
determined from time to time by the court, by looking at all
circumstances surrounding the incident. In the case of ​State of
Punjab v. Major Singh​, Supreme Court held that the essence of a
woman’s modesty is her sex. Even a female of younger age from
her birth possesses the modesty which is the attribute of her sex.
It is not enough that the victim’s modesty is outraged, it is an
offence only when the accused intended or knew it likely that the
alleged acts would outrage the victim’s modesty. This offence is
against the society & public morality. This section also provides
the provision for punishment when any person uses criminal force
upon a women with an intention to outrage her modesty, then he
will be punished with an imprisonment of not less than 1 year but
which may extend upto 5 years & shall also be liable to fine.
*This offence is a non-bailable & cognizable offence.
CASE LAWS:

10. 1) Raju Pandurang mahale v. State of Maharashtra​: Facts: The
accused brought the victim to the house of the
co-accused(one of the accused) on the false pretext. They
confined her in the house & brought liquor which she was
forced to drink. The victim was then disrobed & her nude
photographs were taken.
Judgement: The Supreme Court held that the accused was
guilty under​ Section 354​ of IPC as their acts insults the
female decency & dignity & thus outraging her modesty.
2) Rupan Deol Bajaj v. K.P.S Gill​: Facts: The petitioner was an
IAS officer & the accused was DGP, punjab. The petitioner
was invited to a party where the accused was also present.
The accused asked the petitioner to come & sit next to hism,
and when she went to sit, he pulled the chair closer to him &
the petitioner was surprised by this act and she pulled her
chair back but again he pulled the chair closed to him. The
petitioner asked him to leave but he again asked her to
accompany him in a commanding voice. She got frightened
& pulled her chair back and turned to get out. But at this
point, the accused slapped the butt of the petitioner in the
presence of all guests which was very humilating for her and
she filed an FIR against him.

11. Judgement: The High Court nullify the FIR & held that the act was
covered under​ Section 95,​ IPC( if the act doesn’t caused any
harm or if the harm is so slight that no person of ordinary sense
would complain of such harm then it will not be an offence). But
the Supreme Court held that section 95 is not at all applicable and
this offence is related to the modesty of women, therefore the
accused was liable under Section 354 of IPC.
3)Insulting the Modesty of Women:
Section 509​ or ‘​Eve Teasing Section’​ of IPC deals with the act
which is done with the intent to insult the modesty of woman
which may not necessarily involve any physical force but this
section deter any kind of agression into woman’s modesty
whether by any word, gesture or act or by intruding upon privacy
of such woman, shall be punished with the imprisonment for a
term which may extent to 3 years and also with fine.
● “This offence is bailable and cognizable offence”.
● There must be an intention to insult the modesty of a woman
& the insult must be caused either by intruding upon the
privacy of a woman; or by making any gesture or sound,
uttering any word or exhibiting any object.
New Offences or Sections added to protect women
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013​ added many new
sections in IPC, keeping in view different new forms of offensive
activities against safety and dignity of women.

12. 4) Disrobing a woman (Stripping) :
Section 354B​ of IPC states the provision of punishment for
the offence of assaulting or using criminal force to a woman
by a man or abetting any such act with an intention to
disrobe or compel her to be naked, with a punishment of
minimum three years which may extend to seven years with
a fine.
Essential ingredients for this offence are:
1) The accused must be a man
2) Use of criminal force or assault or abetment of any such act must be there
3) There must be an intention to disrobe a woman or compel her to be naked.

13. 5) Voyeurism:
Section 354C ​of IPC, defines ‘voyeurism’. In simple terms,
satisfaction derived from observing the genital or sexual acts of
others secretly. This offence came into existence after ​Nirbhaya
Rape Case, 2012​. This provision is divided in two different parts:
1) When a person watches or captures an image of a
woman engaging in some private act.[ This offence is
punishable with the imprisonment of minimum one year
& which may extend upto three years and fine].
2) When the person circulates or spreads such an image
so that it reaches as many people as possible.[This
offence is punishable with the imprisonment of
minimum three years & which may extend upto seven
years and fine].
Essential ingredients for this offence are:
1) The accused must be a male
2) He must watch or capture the image
3) The woman whose images are captured must be engaged in some private act
4) The circumstances must be such that she has the expectations of not being observed by
the perpetrator
5) The accused spread that image.

14. 6)Stalking:
Section 354D​ of IPC, deals with the term ‘stalking’ which
means the act of following or trying to contact despite there
is disinterest of the woman. This section is divided in two
parts:
1) When a man follows or contacts or attempts to contact a
woman repeatedly despite her clear indication of disinterest.[
This offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to three years with fine].
2) Where a man monitors the use of internet, email, or any
other form of electronic communication by the woman.[ This
offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term which
may extend to five years with fine].
Essential ingredients for this offence:
1) The accused must be a man and the victim must be a woman.
2) Follow or contact a woman or attempt to contact.
3) Monitors the use of any electronic communication by the woman.
4) Despite disinterest of women.

15. Exception : If a part of responsibility is imposed on a person by
the State to prevent & detect any crime and such act must be
under any law and in such circumstances, the conduct of the
person must be reasonable & justified and it will not amount to
stalking.
7) Acid attack:
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013​ adds ​Section 326A​ &
Section 326B ​to make specific provision for punishment in the
case of acid attack.
Section 326A​ deals with voluntarily causing grievous hurt by using
acid. Under this section, whoever causes the permanent or partial
damage or burns, disfigures or disable any part of the body of a
person or causing of grievous hurt by throwing or administering
acid with an intention to cause such injury or hurt will be punished
with the imprisonment of minimum ten years which may also
extend to life imprisonment with fine.
Section 326B​ has more legislative focus on the act of throwing or
attempting to throw acid with the intention of causing grievous
hurt will be punished with the imprisonment of not less than five
years with fine which may also extend upto seven years.
Essential ingredient of this offence:
1) Permanent/partial damage/deformity/burn/disfigure/disable any part of the body of any
person; or
2) Grievous hurt by throwing acid; or
3) By using any other means;

16. 4) There must be an intention to cause injury or hurt.

17. 8) Sexual Harassment :
Through the​ Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013,​ Section 354A
was inserted in the IPC which define offence of ‘sexual
harassment’ and also gives provision of punishment for it. Sexual
harassment violates the fundamental rights of a woman to
equality under Article 14 and 15 and her right to live with dignity
under article 21 of the constitution. In the case of ​Vishaka vs.
State of Rajasthan ​Supreme Court deals with the issue of Sexual
harassment at workplace and provides ​Vishaka guidelines​ &
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, ​ to protect women against
sexual harassment at workplace.
According to Section 354A, a person shall be guilty of the offence
of sexual harassment against a woman if:
1) He makes physical contact and advance unwelcome and
explicit sexual act;
2) Demands or requests for sexual favours;
3) Shows pornography against the will of a woman;
4) Make sexually colored remarks.
The punishment for the offences specified under Section 354A
(1)(i) to (iii) is a rigorous imprisonment for a term which may
extend to three years or with fine or both and in the case of sub
clause(iv) , there is imprisonment for a term which may extend to
one year or with fine or both.

18. 9) Offences related to Marriage Cruelty or his
Relatives
Section 498A​ of IPC deals with the issue of cruelty by a husband
or his relatives and provides provision to punish the husband and
his relatives who torture, ill-treat and harass a woman with a view
to force her or any other person related to her to meet any
unlawful demands. Not every type of cruelty is mentioned under
this section, it has been mentioned in this section that what kind
of cruelty will be included under this.
The punishment for this offence is imprisonment for a term which
may extend to three years with fine.
Essential ingredients to constitute this offence:
1. The victim must be a married woman/widow.
2. She has been subjected to cruelty by her husband or his
relatives.
3. Such cruelty consisted of either-
● Harassment of a woman with a view to coerce her
meeting a demand of dowry; or
● A wilful conduct by the husband or his relatives of such
a nature as is likely to lead the lady to commit suicide or
to cause great injury to her life, limb or health.
4. That such injury inflicted either physically or mentally.
10) Dowry Death:

19. Section 304B, ​deals with dowry deaths, it has two sub-sections
Section 304B (1)​ which defines dowry death. In simple terms,
where death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury
or not under normal circumstances, within 7 years of her marriage
& it is evident that soon before her death she was subjected to
cruelty, in connection with dowry demand such death is called
‘dowry death’ and
Section 304B (2)​ lays down the provision of punishment which is
a minimum of seven years but may extend to life imprisonment.
Essential ingredients which constitutes this offence:
1) Death of the woman must be caused by burns or bodily
injury or otherwise than under normal circumstances.
2) Such death must occur within the period of 7 years of
marriage.
3) The woman must have been subjected to cruelty by her
husband or any other relative of her husband
4) Such cruelty must be in connection with demand of dowry.
5) Such cruelty must be shown out soon before her death.
❖The offence is both a non-cognizable and non-bailable
offence.
CONCLUSION:

20. Violence or crimes against women is a worldwide problem and
also a serious problem for societies, its moral values as well as
nation. Offences against women occurs in variety of forms from
domestic abuse to rape and to child marriages, all the offences
are strict violation of most of the fundamental rights.
‘It has been said that one way to judge the state of a nation is to
study the status of its women’. Indian Constitution provides
various provision for the benefit and protection of women in order
to ensure gender equality and non-discrimination among citizens.
But inspite of all these, gender discrimination and injustices
continues to occur.
To combat this issue, we must understand that only laws are not
responsible to control the crimes against women in our society.
The need of the hour is to change people’s attitude and mentality
towards women, it may perhaps take longer time but it is an
ultimate solution for this serious problem. Educating boys to see
women as a valuable partner in life and development of society &
nation. “The future of the development of the nation lies in the
future of women equally with men”.
REFERENCES
Indian Penal Code 1860, (Bare Act)
www.indiankanoon.org
www.devgan.in
www.shodhganga.in
www.thehindu.com