Rejecting the accused’s claim that kissing a person’s hand is a “routine practice” in the hospitality industry, a Mumbai court has sentenced a taxi driver to two years in jail for sexually harassing and stalking a five-star hotel employee in 2023.

Judicial Magistrate Prashant S Ghodke of the Esplanade court rejected the defence that the woman worked in the hospitality sector, where kissing someone’s hand while greeting or thanking them was a “routine practice”.

“It is pertinent to note that there is nothing on the record which shows that the manner in which a person is to be greeted or thanked includes kissing on the hand and that training in respect of it is to be imparted in the Hospitality Management course. Therefore, it cannot be presumed that kissing on the hand is a normal course of action to greet a person or to thank a person in Hospitality Tourism Management,” Judicial Magistrate Ghodke said in an order on April 28.

The accused, Rockey Fernandes, was convicted under sections 354 (sexual harassment) and 354(D) (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced to two years in jail, along with a fine of Rs 1,000.

What was the case

According to the woman’s complaint, the incident first occurred on November 11, 2023, when she was travelling to work in South Mumbai. She was waiting for a shared taxi near Churchgate railway station when the driver asked her to get in.

When no other passengers joined the ride, she questioned the driver, who assured her it was a shared taxi. After reaching her destination, she offered to pay the fare, but the driver refused, wished her “Happy Diwali,” shook her hand, and then kissed it.

Shocked by the incident, the woman immediately left the cab. She did not inform anyone at work about it, the police said. She returned home and told her mother, who said that if the person continues to harass her, they should file a complaint.

A few days later, on November 21, 2023, the woman again boarded a shared taxi on her way to work and found the same driver behind the wheel. The accused cab driver did not seat any other passengers. During the journey, she stayed on a call with her mother the entire time.

Near the hotel, the driver allegedly asked her to end the call, which she refused. He then asked for her phone number and name, and told her that he liked her. The woman got out of the taxi and later informed her department head, who advised her to file a police complaint.

During the trial, the accused’s lawyer argued that there was no independent evidence, such as CCTV footage from the hotel’s gate or duty records, to establish the woman’s presence at the scene. The defence also repeated the claim that kissing a person’s hand could not amount to sexual harassment because it was allegedly part of hospitality culture.

It also said that the accused’s defence could not be accepted as he had not met her in the course of work, to greet or thank her.

The court, however, held that the victim’s testimony was credible and did not require independent corroboration. It also accepted the prosecution’s argument that there were no CCTV cameras installed at the exact location of the incident. The magistrate further noted that the accused had no professional relationship with the woman that would justify such behaviour.

“Demanding the mobile number and asking the name of the informant amounts to repeated following of the informant and constitutes the offence of stalking,” the court said.

The sentence was suspended to allow the filing of an appeal.