HC SAYS CAN ATTRACT CHARGES OF ASSAULT

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has held that posting objectionable content about a woman on social media to defame or harass her can attract serious charges of assault or criminal force to outrage modesty and stalking under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

- Urvi Mahajani

A bench of Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Justice Nandesh Deshpande, on Tuesday, dismissed an application filed by a man seeking to quash an FIR and the ensuing criminal proceedings.

The case was filed by a married woman who alleged that she had met the applicant two years before her 2019 marriage. He had proposed to her, but she refused.

She claimed that after her refusal, the applicant became hostile and posted objectionable, defamatory content about her on Facebook on multiple occasions in 2019.

She further alleged that the day before her wedding, the applicant arrived at her residence carrying a bottle of poison and threatened to commit suicide.