Comments on Women’s Body Shape Constitute Sexual Harassment: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has ruled that making inappropriate comments about a woman’s body shape also amounts to sexual harassment. The court clarified that such remarks are intended to deliberately harm the dignity of women and should be treated as sexual harassment by lower courts. This judgment was pronounced during the hearing of a petition filed by a former employee of the Kerala Electricity Board.

A female employee had lodged a police complaint alleging that a senior officer from the Kerala Electricity Board had harassed her. She accused him of making derogatory comments about her body, using obscene language against her since 2013, and sending inappropriate messages and voice calls. Following her complaint, the police registered a sexual harassment case against the former officer and began an investigation.

Challenging the sexual harassment case, the former employee approached the Kerala High Court, requesting that comments about body shape should not be considered sexual harassment. He further pleaded with the court to quash the case filed by the police. However, after examining the petition, the court rejected his plea and affirmed that comments on a woman’s body constitute sexual harassment.