MP High Court asks sexual harassment accused to request victim to tie him a rakhi
The court also asked the accused to gift Rs 11,000 cash to the victim and Rs 5,000 to his son on the occasion of Rakshabandhan
Madhya Pradesh High Court’s Indore bench granted bail to an accused of sexual harassment on a condition that he would visit the complainant on the day of Rakshabandhan with a box of sweets and request her to tie a Rakhi on his hand while he would promise to protect her and also give a sum of Rs 11,000 to her as a gift as a part of the custom, as per the order.
The court, through its order passed on Thursday, granted bail to the accused on the furnishing of a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one solvent surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court, as per the order.
In the order, a single bench of justice Rohit Arya stated, “The applicant along with his wife shall visit the house of the complainant with a Rakhi thread / band at 11 am on August 3 with a box of sweets and request the complainant to tie the Rakhi band to him with the promise to protect her to the best of his ability for all times to come. He shall also tender Rs 11,000 to the complainant as a customary ritual, usually offered by the brothers to sisters on such an occasion and shall also seek her blessings. The applicant shall also tender Rs 5,000 to the son of the complainant for purchase of clothes and sweets.”
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“The applicant shall obtain photographs and receipts of payment made to the complainant and her son, and the same shall be filed through the counsel for placing the same on record of this case before this registry,” said the order.
The government advocate Sudhanshu Vyas said, “The woman, a resident of Ujjain district lodged a complaint against her neighbour on April 20 that he had barged into her house and sexually harassed her. An FIR was registered with Bhatpachalana police station under section 354 (sexual harassment), 452 (house tress pass), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.”
The accused’s counsel, Vishal Patidar said, “We filed a petition in the high court for a bail as he is the only bread earner in the family and since he has been arrested other members in the family have come on the verge of starvation.”