A topless woman who was sunbathing at the Point Chevalier Beach in New Zealand faced the horror of her life after an elderly woman accompanied by a young lady came up to her hurling abuses and clicked her topless picture on their mobile phones without her consent. The two women also kicked and threw sand at the topless woman and asked her to get out of their sight and the beach immediately.
The woman, who hails from Auckland and is in her 50s, said she reached the beach in the evening and was relaxing by herself at the seashore after taking a dip in the waters and decided to soak up the sun. She removed her bikini top to lie face down on a towel and later flipped to her back, covering her face with a top to shield her eyes from the sun and exposed her assets.
She revealed that as she closed her eyes enjoying the sun, she heard loud voices saying ''excuse me'' and assumed it was directed at other beach-goers until she felt a towel thrown across her chest along with lots of sand.
She said the two women approached her screaming ''there are kids here clear off''. "At that point, two women set upon me - and they really set upon me. They were kicking and throwing sand at me. The older woman had this phone and was shoving it in my face," she told the NZ Herald.
It's not illegal to be topless
The woman said she left the beach being ''scared and upset'' as her tormentors kept following her until she was out of the beach. "I was terrified they were still following me. I knew I just had to get out of there.'' She said it's not illegal to be topless and she wasn't sunbathing just to grab eyeballs. ''I'm only an A-Cup. It's not like I'm a double-D."
She added, "I was minding my own business. I do generally try to be discreet. They probably should have just cast their eyes somewhere else."
The police confirmed that the woman lodged a complaint and a spokeswoman from the department said there was "no specific offence for nudity" or for women being topless in public. However, the official said charges can be pressed only if it ''included indecent exposure or performing an indecent act in a public place.''
A reading of the law cited by the police department shows 'indecent exposure' requires displaying genitals - and not breasts - while an indecent act requires an action - in this case, sunbathing. It clearly shows the woman did not break the law. The police are now looking into the complaint.looking into the complaint.
