Karnataka HC orders police to track woman who filed multiple harassment complaints

PTI, Sep 11, 2024, 6:27 PM IST

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has directed the state’s police force to track a woman who has filed nine separate complaints over the past decade, accusing various individuals of sexual harassment, criminal intimidation, and other offences, including under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Section 498A of IPC refers to — husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty.

Justice M Nagaprasanna, presiding over a single-judge bench, ruled that police stations must maintain a record of the woman’s complaints and exercise caution when she attempts to file additional ones.

The court emphasised that before any new complaints are registered, a preliminary inquiry must be conducted to prevent the repeated filing of false cases.

The judge noted: “This is to stop the indiscriminate registration of crimes against innocent men. We have seen ten such cases, and this is to prevent the eleventh.” The court made this ruling while allowing the petition filed by the woman’s husband and in-laws, who sought to quash charges she had brought against them, including allegations under sections 323, 498A, 504, 506, and 149 of the IPC.

This marked the tenth complaint the woman had filed in the last ten years.

Senior Advocate Murthy D Naik, representing the petitioners, submitted evidence of the woman’s previous complaints, which were verified by the prosecution.

The court reviewed all nine prior cases, noting that several men had been wrongfully accused, detained, and later acquitted due to a lack of evidence or cooperation from the complainant.

The court observed that the woman’s actions seemed aimed at harassing the accused, describing her behavior as a “honey trap” targeting over ten men.

The judge remarked: “The complainant has been filing cases without any valid reason, leading to arrests and trials, all of which have ended in acquittals.” In the present case, the woman had accused her husband and his family, including a 75-year-old woman who had never met the complainant, of abuse.

The alleged incidents occurred between August 28 and September 22, 2022. The court found the allegations to be baseless, and stated that allowing the case to continue would endorse the complainant’s questionable actions. The court’s ruling aims to prevent further misuse of the legal system and to protect innocent individuals from false accusations.