'Transgender Woman Can Invoke BNS Provision On Outraging Modesty Of Woman': Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has ruled that the offence of outraging the modesty of a woman under Section 75 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) can be invoked even when the victim is a transgender person who identifies as a woman. The court dismissed the discharge application of Vishal Ingle, an Indian Army Agniveer accused of sexually assaulting a transgender woman on the promise of marriage.

Ingle had challenged the invocation of Section 75, arguing that the complainant was a transgender person and not a woman. However, the court found that the complainant identified herself as a woman and was undergoing hormonal treatment to bring about changes in her body in accordance with her gender identity. The court also noted that the definition of a transgender person under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 includes a transgender man or woman based on their gender identity.

The absence of an identity certificate at the time of the alleged offence did not prevent the police from invoking the penal provisions of the Act, the court observed.

Brief written by urgent.news from Free Press Journal's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.