Colombia man 'jailed over grope'
BBC News
February 23, 2006
A bicycle courier in Colombia has been given a four-year
jail sentence for grabbing a woman pedestrian's bottom, a TV station
has reported.
A judge's ruling - criticised by some as being too harsh - ruled the
courier had committed an abusive sexual act.
Diana Marcela Diaz told RCN that the courier had cycled off after
groping her, but had been caught by passers-by.
When he was arrested, she was given the option of slapping him, letting
him go, or filing a complaint.
She had chosen to set a precedent that would stop sexist behaviour, she
said.
RCN described the sentence as historic, but some lawyers condemned it
as excessive.
A female member of the national ombudsman's office said the courier had
only acted out of lust.
"He didn't use violence or commit a sexual act," she was quoted as
saying.
X-Offenders
The Nation
Fri Feb 24, 11:32 AM ET
The Nation -- A judge in Colombia has ruled that a bicycle courier be
jailed for four years for grabbing a woman's bum while he whizzed past
her on the street. When the grabber was caught, Diana Marcela Diaz, the
grabbed, was given three choices: let him go, file a complaint, or slap
him. She chose the precedent-setting but perhaps less-immediately
gratifying route of filing a complaint. Now that cyclist will have four
long years to think about what he's done.
The Colombians may have overreacted just a little, but the Italians
could take a clue from their playbook. Last weekend it was reported in
the Times that Italy's highest court ruled that sexually abusing a girl
who is not a virgin is a less serious crime than sexually abusing a
virgin. I'd like to face the judge of that court with the same three
options that Diana Marcela Diaz had; I think I'd take option 2 AND 3.