Is trespass in any place of worship an offence?

Question: Is trespass in any place of worship an offence?

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Answer

Section 297, IPC, makes trespass in any place of worship or on any place of sepulture i.e. burial place, or any place set apart for the performance of funeral rites or as a depository for the remains of the dead, an offence.

‘Trespass’ need not necessarily be a ‘criminal trespass’ for the purpose of section 297. ‘Trespass’ implies any violent or injurious act committed with the intention of wounding feelings or insulting the religion of any person. It is used in the section to indicate an unjustifiable intrusion upon property in possession of another.

Section 297 of IPC says,

"Whoever, with the intention of wounding the feelings of any person, or of insulting the religion of any person or with the knowledge that the feelings of any person are likely to be wounded, or that the religion of any person is likely to be insulted thereby, commits any trespass in any place of worship or on any place of sepulture, or any place set apart for the performance of funeral rites or as a depository for the remains of the dead, or offers any indignity to any human corpse, or causes disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both."

In Queen-Empress v. Subhan [(1896) ILR 18 All 395.] the respondents, who entered upon a burial place and plowed up the graves, were held guilty under section 297, IPC, notwithstanding that their entry on the land was by the consent of the owner thereof. Such trespass must be with the intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person.

In Re Ratna Mudali’s case,[(1886) ILR 10 Mad 126] when a Hindu had sexual intercourse with a woman within an enclosure surrounding the tomb of a Mahomedan Fakir held in veneration by some people, he was convicted for trespassing into a place of sepulture under section 297, IPC, and thereby insulting the religion of others.

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