Let’s reinforce that all actions have consequences

This picture has been used for representational purpose

A Thane court has sentenced a man to jail for allegedly flashing at a 17-year-old girl in 2022, news agencies have reported. The convict has already undergone a prison term of 17 months. The incident had occurred on September 7, 2022, when the Thane man flashed the teenage girl. Based on a complaint filed by the victim, the police arrested him a few days later.

It imposed a Rs 5,000 fine on him, and directed that the amount be paid to the victim as compensation and referred the case to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) for further compensation to the victim.

This goes beyond crime and punishment and urges us to look at crimes like flashing through a very serious lens. Let us not be flippant and dismissive as the psychological trauma can be significant. Verbal molestation, stalking, flashing, making signs, all need to be taken seriously when the intent is proved.

In some cases, like flashing, the sexual molestation is obvious, yet others are crimes, too. It is not just the cops, but society as a whole which needs
to look at this through the molestation prism. Just because there is no physical touch or even physical harm, we cannot tell people to simply brush it off. Often, the victims are told that they are making too much of something, or that was not the intent or purpose of this. At times, they are told to keep quiet as they were not harmed.

Yet, these too are violations and emboldened people will escalate this, if not shown that there are extremely serious consequences. Let us educate our young people and give them the courage to complain, in case wronged. Let all of us learn that mental hurt or damage can be as debilitating as physical. Speak up strongly against these crimes.