Court dismisses obscenity charges against kissing Indian couple

A court in India has dismissed criminal proceedings against a married couple charged with obscenity for allegedly kissing in public in the capital.

The Delhi high court judge wondered how an "expression of love by a young married couple" could attract an obscenity charge.

Police arrested the couple - a 28-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman - for kissing near a station last September. Public displays of affection are still largely taboo in India.



The police in Delhi had begun criminal proceedings against the couple for "sitting in an objectionable position near a metro (railway station) pillar and kissing due to which passersby were feeling bad".

The maximum punishment for committing an "obscene act" is three months in prison. Judge S Muralidhar quashed the criminal proceedings.

He said that even if police reports were accurate "it is inconceivable how... an expression of love by a young married couple would attract an offence of obscenity and trigger the coercive process of law". The judge expressed surprise that the couple had been picked up and charged by police despite officers being told that they were married.