What is Public Indecency?

So ever since I like to officially call myself a food blogger, I don't remember the last time I posted something here.

Recently I have been writing a lot with an exception to restaurant reviews and recipes and thought that since nothing much has been spoken about this in the media, I could emphasize on it a little more.

It's not Greek to us. We all come across these instances a couple of times in our lives but just tend to let it go.

Hope you'll enjoy reading it and would love to hear more about your take on this. So please feel free to comment at the end :)

 

It wasn’t too long ago, that a porn ban was going to come into force. Before this, it was the Maggi ban. And now do you think a sex ban could come into place? These various bans in our country are never-ending!

The Mumbai police now seem to have an issue with couples doing their own thing in private spaces not interfering with anyone which I find absolutely shameful and disgusting. They have clearly crossed the line this time by trying to play the role of 'moral police' only to humiliate innocent consenting adults.

Recently, there have been couples that were dragged out of their hotel rooms in Madh Island and Aksa area because they were spreading ‘public indecency’. Not only were they humiliated and questioned for five hours but also asked to pay a bribe of Rs 1200 and some of them were made to call up their parents.

According to the police, we women become prostitutes when we want to spend some quality time with our partner. Why is that so?

It seems like they are being very unreasonable right now and have too much time on their hands. I think it’s high time they stepped up and focused on the more important things in life like arresting terrorists instead of humiliating innocent people.

They do not seem to have an issue with couples making love at Carter Road or Marine Drive (which happens to be entirely public) but when couples seek to find their own privacy in hotel rooms, they come in like hawks making them feel guilty for nothing.

As per my knowledge, there is no law that exists for Public Display of Affection and the most amusing factor is that there is no proper definition for it.  As literate individuals, I’m sure this term would differ for each one of us. There is no one who decides the levels of public indecency as this has not been defined properly even in the Indian Penal Code. So where does that leave us?

It’s sad to say this but the Mumbai Police do not know how to treat their fellow beings. They need to go back to school, brush up their history and civics and get familiar with the whole concept of fundamental rights. We call our land democratic but from the recent series of events including the porn ban, I don’t see where this whole concept of democracy is going. Individuals have become selfish and inconsiderate and do what they want. Our country is not too far from just breaking apart.

This whole terminology of public indecency really needs to be sorted out sooner than later. They need to get their values and morals in place. The fact that they dragged couples from their hotel rooms and shamed them…Now, that is indecency!

Who gives them the right to invade another individual’s personal space? Isn’t that also breaking some laws? In my defence, I believe that this is one of their game plans to make a good buck in quick time. After all, how long does it take to traumatize a young couple who are scared that their families would come to know about the secret affair and get into deep trouble.

They call themselves the ‘moral police’ but I’d like to ask them this one question…

“Dear Police, where are your morals when you are busy bribing people and taking advantage of poor, innocent couples?

They are setting such wrong examples for the future generations of this country by giving them the impression that sex is bad (which does not hold true at all)There is nothing wrong in having sex especially in your own private space. So what’s next? Barge into people’s homes?

In my opinion, they are making utter fools of themselves with this whole issue. I feel that they should concentrate on more serious stuff like rape incidents and sexual harassments rather than wasting their energy on two individuals who make mutual decisions for themselves.These are all consenting adults who know what they are doing and have the right by birth to make their own decisions. The police have no say in this and cannot control their lives.

Coming back to this whole definition of public indecency, let me tell you what it really means.

Perverted men flashing their penis to little children. Yes, that is public indecency! And don’t get so shocked by this statement because I’m sure we have all gone through this at some point of our lives and the worst part was that we couldn’t  even tell our parents about it, as these kind of issues are not ‘appropriate’ to be discussed on our dinner tables in this country.

Or what about having to watch a guy masturbate in the bus/ taxi or even on the street for that matter? These are things that happen every single day in our lives and yet go unpunished.

This just tells us what our country has come to. It is a crime to even hold your partner’s hand in public and let me say this but a police officer harassing a woman in the open, is much more indecent than making love with someone you actually care about.

 What was really amazing to see was the great response this whole issue got on social media. People did not keep quiet especially on Twitter. They voiced their opinions with the hashtag #MyFirstPublicIndecency started by Stand-up Comedian Aditi Mittal. The stories heard were pretty disturbing but at least it was a good eye opener and I just hope the Mumbai Police learnt something from this too. (which I fairly doubt they ever will)

According to Section 292 of the IPC “makes it an offence to sell, distribute, circulate, publicly exhibit or even possess obscene content for public exhibition” ‘Obscene’ here is defined  as that which ‘appeals to the lascivious or prurient interest’ of the person viewing it. But a crucial aspect of this offence is that it should involve a public element.

I’m sorry but I don’t see how being in a hotel room with your partner being something ‘public’.

So you see, there is a lot this country is failing miserably at and this is something that sets us apart from the other countries in the world. People are so scared to even visit our country for a holiday. There are some drastic changes that need to be made or else we will all be in deep trouble.

There is just one thing I never seem to understand. Why is sex treated as such a shameful act in this country? Remember if not for it, you and I would not exist right now.

The Mumbai Police are reacting with this issue in a very immature manner. So what’s next in their agenda? Ban sex?

I think it’s high time our government stepped up and took some action about this and the Mumbai Police need to get their priorities straightened out.

Time to wake up India!