No HC relief to man convicted of peeping inside woman’s bathroom

NEW DELHI: Refusing to grant relief to a man convicted for peeping inside a woman’s bathroom, which only had a curtain on the entrance of the bathroom instead of a door, the Delhi High Court held that his act would certainly attract criminality under voyeurism.

“Needless to say, such an act would certainly put a woman under embarrassment and constant fear of being observed while she takes bath even behind the four walls of a makeshift bathroom,” Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said in the order.

“It is clear from the statements of the witnesses that the bathroom had small walls and a curtain used to be drawn at the time of taking bath the victim. The contention that the act of taking bath cannot be considered a ‘private act’ as it was being done in a public place is not only meritless but also absurd. Taking bath in a bathroom by any person, whether a male or a female, is essentially a ‘private act’ as it is taking place inside the four walls of the bathroom,” the High Court said.

The court highlighted that ‘courts need to remain alive to the social realities in such cases where the victim due to her poverty did not have the luxury of having a bathroom inside her house, but had a makeshift bathroom outside her own house.’

The man’s counsel sought to set aside his client’s conviction under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, arguing that the act of taking bath in the bathroom situated outside the jhuggi of the victim in a public place can be equated with a person taking bath in water parks, swimming pools, lakes, ponds or even while taking bath in rivers at religious places.

The court said, “However, the act of taking a holy dip cannot be equated with taking bath by a woman behind four walls with curtain drawn who would expect that she is behind four walls with the covered entrance, and will thus have a reasonable expectation that while taking bath, she will not be observed by anyone.