First arrest in Tamil Nadu under BNS; youth held for filming private moments of woman

Chennai: A 21-year-old was one of the first persons to be arrested in Tamil Nadu on Monday for allegedly recording a woman taking a bath inside her bathroom under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on July 1.

The youth was booked under Section 77 which deals with the act of watching, capturing, or disseminating private images of a woman without her consent of the BNS. “He was arrested,” a police official told DH.

Under the new Act, the perpetrator shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of one year which could extend up to three years, along with a fine; a second or subsequent conviction would mean a punishment with a jail term of not less than three years extending up to seven years, and a fine.

Identified as Sarathy of Triplicane, the youth was booked for allegedly filming a 25-year-old woman bathing inside her bathroom. The Ice House police station filed an FIR against Sarathy under the new criminal laws.

The day also saw the Thousand Lights police registering a case of snatching against an individual under Section 304 of BNS. Under the new law, he will be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend up to three years, and shall also be liable to a fine.

Director General of Police (DGP) Shankar Jiwal said new FIR forms have been distributed to all police stations in the state and said the police can also use the old FIR forms which are readily available by striking out the old sections and change it manually by rubber stamping the new sections with the signature of the Station House Officer.

The DGP also said the First Information Report should now be read as FIR under Section 173 of BNSS in place of Section 154 CrPC.

Sources in the police department told DH that the work on translating the three new laws into Tamil from English have been fast-tracked and is likely to be completed "very soon". "Once the translation work is completed and we are satisfied with it, we will send it to the Union Government for approval following which it will be circulated to the concerned", a government source said. 

Notwithstanding its opposition to implementation of three new criminal laws replacing the IPC, CrPC, and the Evidence Act, the Tamil Nadu government has fast-tracked translation of the new acts from English to Tamil, besides providing necessary training to those in the judiciary and police department.

The government’s efforts come even as Chief Minister M K Stalin, in a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah in mid-June, demanded deferment of implementation of the new laws pending consultation with state governments citing practical issues. Stalin, in the letter, spoke in detail about the issues faced by state governments in implementation of the three new criminal laws which replaced the existing Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.