Judgment

A. K SARKAR, CJI : The question is whether the respondent who caused injury to the private parts of a female child of seven and half months is guilty under S. 354 of the Penal Code of the offence of outraging the modesty of a woman. In the High Court the matter was heard by three learned Judges two of whom answered the question in the negative anti the third answered it in the affirmative. Hence this appeal by the State.

2. It would be convenient to set out the section at once.

S. 354- "Whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years. Or with fine, or with both"

3. "Criminal force" is defined in S. 350 of the Code and it is not in dispute that such force had been used by the respondent to the child. It is also not in dispute that the child was a woman within the Code for in the Code that word is to be understood as meaning a female human being of any age: see Ss. 7 and 10. The difficulty in this case was caused by the words outrage her modesty . The majority of the learned Judges in th