New Delhi, 6 November 2022: The Delhi court has ruled that the word “fuck off” is sexually charged and can result in legal action for insulting someone’s modesty.
They described it as “vulgar” and “offensive American language,” noting that it is not used in Indian culture, schools, or institutions to ask people to leave.
In 2019, a woman has complained against a man for allegedly insulting a woman’s modesty by using the phrase and threatening her.
The accused allegedly called the woman a “bazaru aurat” while abusing her at her home, according to the FIR. Soon after, a magistrate’s court established charges against the defendant under a number of parts of the Indian Penal Code, including sections of outraging a woman’s modesty, inciting hatred, and criminal intimidation.
“Fuck off” is not a sexually charged term, the accused argued in response to the directive, adding that he had just used it to ask the woman to leave the area. He said that the phrase’s meaning is “to depart or go away, used especially as a nasty way of ordering someone to get away,” according to the Cambridge Dictionary (UK). The defendant further argued that “fuck off” is a common phrase in society and at colleges and universities.
On October 29, additional sessions judge Sanjay Sharma denied the plea in a six-page judgement. Furthermore, given the incident’s facts and circumstances, it cannot be stated that the petitioner’s intention was to merely urge the complaint to leave or leave the area. The word is harsh, rude, and degrading in its normal usage.
The court believed that the argument made by the petitioner’s attorney that the word’s dictionary definition is “to go or go away” lacks validity in the eyes of this Court. The phrase in question is a “sexually charged comment.”
According to the judgment, there is a strong argument that the petitioner used the phrase “f**k off” with the intention of demeaning the complainant’s modesty. The judge maintained that the complainant had made it clear that the man had told her to be quiet and take a seat in a corner. “She has made it clear that the petitioner and other people have threatened her and her family, threatening to evict them from the property.”
According to the court, there is enough justification to pursue legal action against the petitioner.”
