Forced kiss and bite: High Court overturns conviction, cites teeth as non lethal

Shimla (The Uttam Hindu): The Himachal Pradesh High Court has given a big decision while hearing a revision petition. The court clarified that human teeth cannot be considered a "lethal weapon" under Section 324 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Therefore, the punishment given by the lower court under this section was declared wrong and cancelled.

Section 324 of IPC provides punishment for intentionally causing hurt by dangerous weapons. Justice Rakesh Kanthala said in the judgment that injury caused by teeth does not come under the purview of this section. The incident is of 5 March 2007, when the victim was sleeping in the house with her four-year-old child. At around 11:30 pm, the accused entered the room and tried to strangle the victim and the child. The accused also molested the victim, kissed her forcefully and bit her cheek with his teeth.

The trial court convicted the accused under sections 451 (unlawful entry), 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman), 323 (assault) and 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapon) of the IPC. The sessions court also upheld the verdict. The accused filed a revision petition in the High Court against it. The High Court held that the victim had informed the police about the incident at 1:45 am the same night, due to which her testimony was considered credible. But the court said that biting with teeth cannot be put in the category of “lethal weapon”. Therefore, the sentence given under section 324 was quashed. However, the court said that the punishment given under sections 451, 354 and 323 cannot be called excessive. The court remarked, “A house is considered to be a person's fortress. Entering a house at midnight and molesting a woman is a serious crime.” Thus, the High Court partly allowed the appeal and set aside only the order relating to Section 324 but upheld the conviction under other sections.