New Delhi : Pulling a woman and removing her sari with intent to criminal assault will amount to outraging her modesty, the Supreme Court has held.

"What constitutes an outrage to female modesty is nowhere defined in the Indian Penal Code. The essence of a woman's modesty is her sex. The culpable intention of the accused is the crux of the matter. The reaction of the woman is very relevant, but its absence is not always decisive, said a Bench consisting of Justices Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia."

Writing the judgment, Justice Pasayat said: "Modesty in Section 354 IPC is an attribute associated with female human beings as a class. It is a virtue which attaches [to] a female owing to her sex."

The Bench said the act of pulling a woman and removing her sari would be an outrage on her modesty; "knowledge that modesty is likely to be outraged is sufficient to constitute the offence without any deliberate intention having such outrage alone for its object."

In the instant case, S. Ramkripal was convicted and sentenced to seven-year imprisonment for rape of a girl by the trial court and the Jabalpur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court confirmed it. Dismissing his appeal against this judgment, the apex court Bench said: "A culprit first intends to commit the offence, then makes preparation for committing it and thereafter attempts to commit the offence. If the attempt succeeds, he has committed the offence. The moment he commences to do an act with the necessary intention, he commences his attempt to commit the offence."

Rejecting the appellant's contention that there was no intercourse, the Bench said mere penetration was enough to constitute an offence of rape.

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