But will the harassment go with it, is what sexual minorities in the city would like to know
But will the harassment go with it, is what sexual minorities in the city would like to know
Adult consensual sex is not an offence but police use it as a tool to harass sexual minorities, says city-based advocate B T Venkatesh.
Venkatesh cites the example of a young gigolo who was illegally detained by police for three days on the pretext of interrogation.
Instead of remanding him to judicial custody, they took the numbers of his clients whou00a0 included engineering contractors and businessmen. The police took the gigolo to their houses to identify them and threatened to book the "clients" under Section 377 if they did not pay up. Fearing dire consequences, the clients paid through their noses to avoid the case.
Venkatesh shares other cases where sexual minorities were ill-treated by the police. Most of the accused are now acquitted though some cases are still pending in court, he said.
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Case 1: Hefty fines
In 2006, Madhumita and her friends were standing near a temple within Cubbon Park police station limits when a constable beat them up and took them to the police station. He registered a case under Section 377 and accused them of committing unnatural offences, spreading HIV, being a nuisance to society, being dangerous and so on. Instead of being chargesheeted under Sections 290 and 294 where the maximum fine is Rs 200, they were chargesheeted under Section 377 and remanded to judicial custody for two-and-a-half months. Later, the victims were released on bail after paying a surety of Rs 10,000.
Case 2: Don't I have the right to walk in Cubbon Park?
In 2005, Pooja and nine other hijras were walking in Cubbon Park. A constable started abusing them and threatening them of dire consequences if they didn't get out of the park.u00a0 Police said they had instructions from higher officials to chase them out of Cubbon Park.u00a0 While most of the hijras scooted, one of them questioned the police. "Don't I have the right to walk in Cubbon Park?" Police beat her up and foisted a case on her for assaulting a public servant on duty.
Case 3: Beaten, tortured, stripped
In 2002, Ranjitha, a transsexual, was having an ice-cream on St Mark's Road with a friend when she was beaten up and taken to Cubbon Park police station. Both Ranjitha and her friend were insulted, tortured and abused there they were even stripped naked. Later, it was said that they ran away from the police station.
Case 4: Victim twice over
In 2003, a hijra called Kokila was forcibly taken away and sodomised by six goondas. When she started shouting for help, police arrested the goondas along with Kokila. She was brought to the police station and stripped. They poked her private parts with a lathiu00a0 and burnt them with cigarettes. They beat her, cut her hair and asked her to get into a man's dress. A victim of sexual assault was once again assaulted by Byappanahalli police.
Case 5: I never stole
Khalid, a transsexual who has sex with homosexuals, was arrested by Sampangiram Nagar Police. He was brutally beaten and sodomised in the station. He was accused of theft for stealing two T-shirts from a small shop. He was remanded to judicial custody and sexually assaulted in the prison for 15 days.
(With inputs from Imran Gowhar)
What is section 377 all about?
According to the Indian Penal Code, Section 377 refers to unnatural offences: "Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine."
In a nutshell, homosexuality and bestiality come under the purview of this section.
And according to advocate B T Venkatesh, a police officer can even book a husband and wife for indulging in oral sex in private under the "draconian" section.
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