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by sayum
20 June 2026 10:22 AM
A court in Mulund, Mumbai, recently sentenced a 43-year-old man to one month in jail and a 1,000 fine for holding his minor cousin's hand without her consent and proposing marriage [The State of Maharashtra vs Manikumar Wilson Nadar].
Metropolitan Magistrate RD Dange stated that the accused's relationship to the victim did not give him permission to touch her without her consent.
"In the present case, PW1 testified that the defendant's actions made her feel insulted and ashamed. Even though the accused is PW1's relative, he had no right to touch her without her consent "the Judge ruled.
In February 2009, when she was in ninth grade, the minor filed a complaint at the Bhandup police station under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing harm) and 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). She claimed that while she was walking home from school, her cousin grabbed her hand, proposed marriage, and invited her to his home.
Regarding the violation of Section 354, the court found the prosecution witnesses' testimony credible and convicted the defendant.
However, the defendant was acquitted of the Section 323 offence because the court did not believe the complainant and her sister's testimony that the defendant had struck the victim.
The defendant pleaded for clemency and asked to be released on a bond of good behaviour under the Probation of Offenders Act.
The court determined that the case did not qualify for the benefits of the Probation of Offenders Act due to the nature of the offence, the victim's age, and the ongoing nature of the other complaints.
The State of Maharashtra
versus
Manikumar Wilson Nadar
