Court grants bail to security guard held for raping married woman

A sessions court in Mumbai has granted bail to a security guard accused of raping a woman after observing that his co-accused was already on bail. The court stated that the investigation has been completed and the delay in lodging the FIR was a factor. The accused has been booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code.

MUMBAI: The sessions court recently granted bail to an accused arrested for allegedly raping a 39-year-old resident of a society in Tilaknagar, where he was posted as a security guard, observing that the co-accused was already enlarged on bail.

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While granting the accused, Ashok Pathak, 53, bail the additional sessions judge A B Sharma said that the material investigation of the case has been completed. “The co-accused is already enlarged on bail. The role attributed to the present accused is on the same footing as the co-accused. Prima-facie, the delay is caused in lodging of the FIR,” stated the court order.

According to the order, the incident first occurred in February 2023, when the victim, married with three children, received a call from Pathak threatening her that if she refused to follow his instructions, he would kidnap her son and kill her husband.

“I have known the accused for the last 4-5 years. The accused and the co-accused had been teasing me and making obscene remarks whenever I pass them,” the victim said in her complaint to the police.

Pathak forcefully took the victim to ONGC’s Officer’s Club Room nearby and assaulted and raped her. He then threatened her that if she revealed anything to anyone, he would defame her and harass her family.

A couple of days later, the co-accused approached her and told her that he knew about her actions with the accused. He further threatened her that if she refused his demands, then he would defame her. The victim was repeatedly raped by the accused and the co-accused.

The order granted Pathak a provisional cash bail for three months and has also directed that the accused cannot leave the country without prior permission of the court.

The accused have been booked under sections 376 (punishment for rape), 376(2)(n) (committing rape repeatedly on the same woman), 506-II (punishment for criminal intimidation), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.