What is Forceful Sexual Behaviour?

[Trigger Warning: This explainer contains information on physical violence, sexual violence, abuse and slurs which some readers may find disturbing.]

There are many forms of forceful sexual behaviour that a person might encounter. Some of them are:

Forcefully Removing Clothes 

Whenever someone forcefully removes or tries to remove a person’s clothes, it is a crime. Even if there is any intention¹ or behaviour where a person thinks the perpetrator is going to or might remove their clothes by hurting them, it is a crime. For example, if someone forcefully tries to remove a person’s clothes in a secluded place, it is a crime. 

This crime is commonly known as disrobing. Under the law, only a man can be punished for the crime².

The punishment for forcefully removing someone’s clothes is jail time of minimum three year and maximum five years with a fine³.

Rape 

Rape⁴ is a forceful act committed by when the perpetrator penetrates their body parts into someone else or applies their mouth on someone else’s body parts.  Further details on this crime are available in our explainer on Rape. The punishment for rape is jail time anywhere between ten years to life imprisonment with a fine⁵. If a person rapes a child below the age of 14, then they can be punished with death penalty.⁶ 

1. Sunil Kumar Mishra and Ors. v. State of Orissa and Ors  119 (2015) CLT 396.[↩]
2. Sunil Mishra v. The State of Jharkhand  2016 (1) J.L.J.R.279.[↩]
3. Section 354B, Indian Penal Code, 1860.[↩]
4. Section 375, Indian Penal Code,1860[↩]
5. Section 376, Indian Penal Code, 1860.[↩]
6. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.[↩]
7. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005[↩]