Nudity and obscenity are not always synonymous, observes Kerala HC; quashes case against activist
Kerala, June 5: Kerala High Court on Monday granted relief to a woman rights activist from a criminal case pertaining to making a video of her children painting on her semi-nude body. Quashing the case against her, the HC observed that nudity and obscenity are not always synonymous.
“There is nothing wrong with a mother allowing her body to be used as a canvas by her children to paint to sensitise them to the concept of viewing nude bodies as normal and thinking about them as more than just sexual objects only. Such an act cannot be termed to be one which is done with sexual intent,” ]the Kerala High Court said.
The woman was booked after she shared a video on her social media platforms showing her two minor children, a 14-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl, painting on her semi-nude torso. A case was registered against her under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Information Technology Act and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
The video had triggered massive outrage and several people slammed her for subjecting her children to what they considered to be an obscene and vulgar act.
However, Justice Kauser Edappagath issued the ruling on Monday, noting that the woman defended her acts as a form of self-expression and an attempt to break free from social and cultural taboos that constrain women's bodies.
“The autonomy of the male body is seldom questioned, while the body agency and autonomy of women are under constant threat in a patriarchal structure. The women are bullied, discriminated against, isolated, and prosecuted for making choices about their bodies and lives," Justice Kauser Edappagath said.
“Here is a case where a mother who tried to challenge patriarchal stereotypes and spread a message that there needs to be nothing sexual or offensive about the naked female body by letting her kids be exposed to her semi-nude body was saddled with criminal prosecution alleging that she exploited her own children for sexual gratification. What started as a body art project for a mother with her kids with control of the narrative turned out to be a ‘criminal act’,” the Kerala HC added.
“The contents in the video must be appreciated in the backdrop of these facts and considering the message accompanying it. Going by the message accompanying the uploaded video, body painting was done as an artistic form of protest against the sexualised portrayal of the naked upper body of a woman and to express her views on bodily autonomy and the emancipation of women. The children do not have a case that they were sexually exploited in any manner or that the petitioner was permitting body art on her body for any sexual motive,” it added.
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- With inputs from agencies
