The recent observation by the Bombay High Court underscores the prevalence of eve teasing, noting its tendency to escalate into more severe offenses. The court advocates for imposing stringent punishments to deter such behavior.

“There is need to keep under control such instances of teasing young girls, which are common and often become reason for another offence and sometime to serious one.''

During a hearing of an appeal filed by three men convicted of murder by a trial court, the division bench of the high court, composed of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Shyam Chandak, presided over the proceedings

The case revolved around an incident of eve-teasing involving a young girl and a perpetrator named Abhijit Sangare. Following the incident, the young girl reported the matter to her mother, who subsequently informed her brother about it.

The brother subsequently informed their neighbour (the deceased), who went to Sangare and warned him not to engage in such acts.

Following the warning issued to Sangare, the deceased escorted the victim back home. However, Sangare, accompanied by two other individuals, later arrived at the deceased's residence armed with iron rods and a wooden log, subsequently assaulting him.

The high court, upon review, convicted the trio under Section 304 (Culpable Homicide Not Amounting to Murder) and overturned the trial court's judgment which had convicted them under Section 302 (Murder).

“These circumstances clearly indicate that even though the accused persons were carrying two weapons, they restricted themselves to only one injury on the vital part of the body (head) and that too without exercising much force, otherwise there would have been at least a fracture to the scull like to the right tibia-fibula. The deceased died due to complications following the head injury," the judgement reads.

The high court amended the sentence for the three men, reducing their life imprisonment to rigorous imprisonment for a duration of 10 years.

Case title: Eknath Laxman Shinde vs State of Maharashtra