'Body-Shaming, Verbal Abuse Alone Don’t Amount To Insulting Woman’s Modesty Under Section 509 IPC': Karnataka HC
· Free Press Journal
Bengaluru, October 2, 2026: The Karnataka High Court has held that allegations of body-shaming and verbal abuse against a woman, by themselves, are insufficient to constitute the offence of insulting a woman’s modesty under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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Section 509 criminalises words, sounds, gestures or acts intended to insult a woman’s modesty, as well as intrusions into her privacy. The provision carries a maximum punishment of three years’ imprisonment and a fine.
Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar made the observation while quashing criminal proceedings against two women, aged 25 and 27, who were accused of body-shaming and verbally abusing a woman in Bengaluru, Bar & Bench reports.
“Having regard to the mandatory ingredients required to constitute an offence under Section 509 IPC, merely because the petitioners and accused No.3 (the women accused of body-shaming) are said to have body-shamed the complainant and insulted her about her physical appearance, it cannot be said that the material on record discloses the commission of the offence punishable under Section 509 IPC,” the Court said.
Complaint Filed Over Alleged Abuse
The case arose from a complaint filed in August 2023 by a 26-year-old woman, who alleged that two women and a man had verbally abused her and her friends the previous night.
She alleged that the group used fat-shaming, body-shaming, racist and vulgar language, causing her and her friend mental trauma and distress.
Based on the complaint, police registered a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 509 of the IPC.
Following an investigation, police filed a chargesheet and criminal proceedings were initiated before a Bengaluru magistrate court.
Court Finds Ingredients Not Established
The High Court found that the material on record did not disclose the necessary ingredients to establish an offence under Section 509.
The Court noted that allegations of body-shaming and insults concerning physical appearance, without the ingredients required under the provision, were insufficient to sustain the criminal proceedings.
It consequently quashed the proceedings against the two women.
Proceedings Against Third Person Quashed
The High Court also noted that proceedings against the third person accused in connection with the same incident had been quashed in June 2024.
The allegations against the two women were identical to those made against the third person, the Court noted.
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The Court applied the principle of parity, under which people facing the same allegations in similar circumstances should ordinarily receive similar treatment.
Since the proceedings against the third person had already been quashed and the allegations were identical, the High Court extended the same relief to the two women and quashed the criminal proceedings against them.
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