LexThe Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Eve-Teasing Act, 1998
Tamil Nadu · state statute
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The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Eve-Teasing Act, 1998
Act 44 of 1998
Keyword(s):
Harassment, Public Service Vehicle, Eve Teasing
Amendment appended: 39 of 2002
56 TAMIL NADU GOT
, - 1
<,-. . ', oqJ. \-."
The following Act of the Tamil Nadu ~egislative Assembly received thr - - - ha*- bf the bOVemor on the 23rd December 1998 and is hereby publlshed for
general illformation :-
ydR ,~59)'~' -- - - /,CI NO. 44 OF 1998.
HRphs~~ fil AN ACT TO PROHIBI~~~~'~G~IN ANYPLACE IN THE STATE
OF WO~'~~ OF TAMIL NADU.
BE i+ enacted by the 1 egislathe ~ssembly of the State of Tamii Nadu jn the
Fortyninth Year of the ~e~rl blic of India as follows :-
I, (I) =hia A,.. may be oafid the ~~mil Nadu loh hi bit ion od@~e-~~~~~~g A~~~' \\(> ' ; 'I ' ' ' lort t~tle and
,mmencement. 1 998
(2) It shall be deemed to h' e on the 30th day of J~Y 1998.
aefinitions. v "(a) "harassment" 211t conduct or act by a man which causes or 1s llhely
to cause intimidat~on, fei ai rassnient. tnclu~l~ng nhu51ng or caiislng Ilult or
Of is nu~sance or assault or ust 7 p\ r\ yokt ,.
ding aoLollkb ruuuSue ur- - --
(b) '*public service vehicle"
in clause (35) of section 2 of the
=.I\ LL*~ (q words aad expressions use
mea nir:gs assigned to them in the 1x1
. I 31 rXP %A
+&bition of 3. ,Eve-teasing at any place 1s prohibit
4
:ve-teasing2
commits or participates i
institution,
station, cinema theatye, park
any other p]ece shall be punlsaed w
to one :.-"- chall be liable to fine
-A Mtr, cr\\'"c''7~ (i''['f
~es~onsibility occ"ls olhc' wlrc tllan llnder nornlal CII cutl~\ta~lc
of manage- plat SLI QP '. .,
ment of any
preciy~:~~ cq\, ,>
(Ii The c"wof apubli~sem~e y*lkiear mid sbbiil steps
.ey " harassment wornan in ~r yeiiicie Where han.srrnl conlnll WCP'
In service vi
the creW.f~~hehirle ~h.1~~ On a rmpiai.t by & ,&j+-r'
take vehicle '0 the namt poila ih*jon a
to wiice.*.
-'--I11 UllU 1, LrrL url
- J
the l:
(I) lSdonc wlthtlle lntelltl~lloJ.~;~l~sll~p rjcar~~ oloi i~ilrlllT 5,icl, hilljlij ,,,, lo dea'l'' sllall p'~~ls11~~ with inlprtsoti ~lvtit of.el~l-c~ cj;\c,:i,f:lal llil ,, frilll ,,
IIUVr~lnl,,U I fine u'~lsolu'mt "I ~ltll fi1r ~hch shII mt ir jcr5 {lull jijir ih,m,lkl npn\
I\ .
~uty of crew of in public
service to
vehicles.
Deemed
abetment.
f
3 -
-- -
other laws
not a&cted.
(3) Every rule macia under this Act shall, as sooq as possible after it is wade,
be placed 04 the table of the Legislative Asvernhly, and if,bcforo the cxpir y of the ses-
sion iq wllich it is so placed or the neqt sessioq, the Assenlbly wakes any modification
in any such rulc, or the Assenlbly decides that tho rulo should uct bc qado, the rule
shall thereafter have effect only i~ such modified form or be of no eger't, as tho case
yay be, so, however, that aqy such modification or anqulgent shr:ll he wil,ho\it pre-
judice to tho validity ot anything previously done i~lider that rulo.
ln '1) Tho Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Eve-teasing Ordinance, 1'998, is hcre- Repaal and ,
saving.
*! I
the Ordinance Shall uc UOO,~U~ ." --. - -. .- -
acticn taken under
r t 11;s Act.
I
L NADU GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY
The following Act of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Asser~ibly received the assent of the
I Governor on the 9th November 2002 and is hereby published for general information:--
r
ACT No. 53 OF 2002.
I
An Act to crmend the Tatnil Narltr Prohihitiort ($Eve-tecrsing Act. 1998.
Bi ~t enacted by the Legislative A~sembly of the State of Tamil Nad .I in the Fifty-third Year
of the Republic of India as follows:-
1. (1) This Act may be called tlle I'*il.;l Nadu prohibition of Harassment of Short title
Won~an(Amendment) Act, 2002. and
commen-
(2) It shall come into forc: on such date as the State Government may, by notification, ~ement.
appoint.
AII Na, 2. In the Tamil Nadu Prohibit~on of Eve-teasing Act, 1998 (hereinafter referred to as the Amendment
ct44 ~f principal Act), in the long title, fbr the expression "eve-teasing", the expression "harassment of of 10% title.
1098 woman" shall be substituted.
3. In section 1 of the principal Act, in sub-section (I), for the expression "Eve-teasing", the Amendment
expression "Harassment of Woman" shall be substituted. of section 1.
4. In section 2 of the principal Act, for clause (8). the following clause shall be substituted, Amendment of section 2. namely:--
"(a) "harassment" means any indecent conduct or act by a man which causes or is likely
to cause intimidation, fear, shame or embarrassment, including abusing or causing hurt or
nuisance or assault or use of force.".
5. In section 3 of the principal Act,- Amendment
of section 3.
( 1 ) in the marginal heading, for the expression "eve-teasing", the expression"harassment
of woman" shall be substituted;
(2) for the expression "Eve-teasing", the expression "Harassment of woman" shall be
substituted.
6. For section 4 of the principal Act, the following section sliall be substituted, namely:- Substitution of section 4.
"4. Penalty for ha~~ssment of woman.-Whoever commits or participates in or abets
harassment of woman in or within the precincts of any educational institution, temple or other
place of worship, bus stop, road, railway station, cinema theatre, park, beach, place of festival,
public service vehicle or vessel or any other place shall be punished with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to three years and with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees.".
?. After section 4 of the principal Act, the following sections shall be inserted, namely :- Insertion of
new sections
4-A, 4-9
and 4-C.
"4-A. Harrrssnlent death. --( 1 ) Where the death of a woman is caused by bodily injury
or occurs otherwise than under normal circun~stances and if it is shown that soon before her
death, she was subjected to harassnlerlt or that in respect of her an offence under section 294,
354 or 509 of the Indian Penal Code (Central Act XLV of 1860) was committed, such death shall
be called harassment death
(2) Notwithstanciing anything contained in section 4, whoever commits harassment
death and if the act by which the death is caused,--
(i) is done with the intentio~iofcausingdeathorofca~rsingsrrcll bodily injury as is likely
to cause death, shall be pimished with iaiprisonn~ent of either description for a tern1 which nny extend to
inp~isonnrnt Tor li ti and with fit!e which slull twt be less tlun fitb tlio~~~ld nqxes ;
(ii) is done with knowledge that it is likely to cause death but without any
intention to cause death or such bodily ill-jury as is likely to cause dcatli, shall be punished wit11
1niprisonlnr1lt ofc.it)~er descriplio~~ for a tern1 \vliich 111ay cxtrnd to tcn years and with fine wliicll
,Ii;il! 11ot he less ~lian liliy tliousantl riipces ;
252 TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY -- -
(iii) is rash or negligent, shall be punished with imprisonment of eitliel
description for a term which hay extend to ten years and with fine which shall not be less than
twenty-five thousand rupees.
4-8. Harassmentsuicidr.-.-.( I) If any woman commits su~cide ant 11 is shown that soon
before her death, she was subjected to lurassment by any person or that in respect of h;r an
offence under section 294,354 or 509 of the lndian Penal Code (Central Act XLV of 1860) was
committed. such suicide shall be called the harassment suicide and such person shall be deemed
to have abetted the suicide.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 4, whoever abets harassment
suicide shall be punished wi h imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend
to ten years and with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees.
4-C, Presur~iption a.s to harussmlrtrt deatl~ and r~brtnrent of hurassrnent suicide.- When
the question is whether any person had caused harassment death or abetted harassment suigide
of a woman, the court shall, unless the contrary is proved. presume ;hat such person had caused
the harassment death or abetted the harassment suicide, as the case may be, when it is shown that
before her death, such woman had been subjected to harassment or, in respect of her an offence
was committed under section 294,354 or 509 of Indian Penal Code (Central Act XLV of 1860)
and bodily injury was caused in furtherance of such harassment or commission of the said
offence by or at the instance of that person and it resulted in death or suicide, as the case may
be, of that woman.
Amendment 8. In section 5 of the principal Act, in sub-section (I), for the expression "eve-teasing" in two
ofsection5. places where it occurs, the expression "harassment of woman" shall be substituted.
Amendment 9, In section 6 of the principal Act, for sub-section (I), the following sub-section shall be
0f~~6. substituted, namely :-
"(1) The crew of a public service vehicle or vessel shall take such steps as they may deem
fit to prevent harassnient of woman in the vehicle or vessel. Where such harassment is committed
in public service vehicle, the crew of such vehicle shall, on a complaint made by the aggrieved
person, take such vehicle to the nearest police station and give information to the police.".
Amendment
of sation 7.
Insertion of
new scction
1 7-A.
I
10. In section 7 of the principal Act,-
(I) for sub-section (I), the following sub-section shdll be substituted. namely:-- 41
"(1) Where any vehicle or vessel is used in the commission of any offence
punishable under section 4, 4-A or 4-B, the driver of such vehicle or vessel shall, unless the
contrary is proved, be deemed to have abet;:? !ha ?fferlce under section 4,4-A or 4-8, as the case
may be, and shall be punished with imprisonment for a term H hich may extend to three years and
with fine which shall not be less than five thousand lupees;
(2) in sub-section (2),-
(a) for the expression "vehicle" in three places where it occurs, the expression
"vehicle or vessel" shall be substituted;
(b) for the expression "eve-teasing", the expression "harassment of wonian"
shall be substituted.
I I. After section 7 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inseried, namely :- I
"7-A. Order to pcty cotnpcrrstrtion ---'The cot~rt may, when awarding a sentence under
sectiun 4,4-A or 4-13. order the accused to pay, by way of compensation, such amount as may
be specified in the order. to the person who has suffered any loss or injury or disability or nrental
agony by reason of the act for whic11 the accused person has been so sentenced or to her legal heir. I I
(By order of he Governor)
A. KRIStINANKI.IT1'Y NAIK,
S~~ct~rrtrr:\* lo Ct'orerrr nrcrrrl.
I.rt~t~ L)c.l)ctr.tar lJ1r/.