India's apex court has a thing or two to say to the people of this country for the past couple of months. And we must say we're quite happy the way the Supreme Court is keeping gender equality and women's rights in mind when passing a judgment.
Today, in yet another landmark judgment the Supreme Court of India said that no one in this country has the right to force a woman to love someone. It's a woman's independent choice
"Why can't women live in peace in this country," asked the bench that had Justices A M Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar.
The bench also added: "A woman has a choice to love or not to love a person. No one can force her to love somebody. There is a concept of love and man has to accept it."
The statement was made when a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra was listening to an appeal by a man who was already sentenced to seven years in Jail by the Himachal Pradesh High court. He was found guilty for eve-teasing and forcing a 16-year-old girl to commit suicide.
The case...
The crime dates back to 2008 when the accused used to eve-tease and threaten the girl. In July that year, she set herself on fire when her parents were not at home. She died during treatment and her parents had lodged a kidnapping and rape case against the accused.
While the man's counsel raised doubts over the girl's dying declaration, the counsel said that the girl was in such a bad shape that she was unable to speak or write anything.
"The doctors said that she was 80 per cent burnt and it was not possible for her to write dying declaration. She was unable to speak also. Her both hands were burnt. This dying declaration has to go. She was not in a position to say or write anything," the counsel said.
The bench also added that as per her dying declaration, "you had created a situation which had compelled her to commit such act."
The man was initially acquitted by the trial court in July 2010 after which the state had approached the high court.
Three essential legal rights that every Indian woman must know of
1. Right against domestic violence: This act protects a woman from any kind of domestic abuse at the hands of the partner, husband, in-laws or relatives, and a case can be filed by the woman or anybody on her behalf.
2. Right to no sexual harassment: It is required for every employer to create a Sexual Harassment Complaints Committee within the organization. As per a supreme Court guideline, it is compulsory for all private and public firms to set up these committees to resolve matters of sexual harassment.Also, the committee should be headed by a woman and must have a member from a women's welfare group as one of its members.
3. Right to property: As per the Hindu Succession Act, men and women have equal rights over the property owned by their parents.
Also read: Women do not need to wear Sindoor and mangalsutra as proof of marriage: HC!
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