HC suspends travel restrictions on Tanzanian national booked for raping model

Patel faced grave allegations of raping a 34-year-old event anchor on multiple occasions under the guise of promising to marry her. The events unfolded after the duo met at a friend’s birthday celebration in October 2022 and fostered a relationship

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday granted relief to a Tanzanian national, Viran Kanubhai Patel, accused of raping a city-based model in 2023, by permitting him to travel to Tanzania from March 22 to April 22, 2024. This court has also suspended the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against him.

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The high court’s ruling came in response to Patel’s plea seeking permission to travel to Tanzania for business, citing his responsibilities as the head of a trading company, Glimexs Trading Limited, operating in Tanzania and India. Notably, the court considered Patel’s prior grant of pre-arrest bail, which included strict travel restrictions.

Patel faced grave allegations of raping a 34-year-old event anchor on multiple occasions under the guise of promising to marry her. The events unfolded after the duo met at a friend’s birthday celebration in October 2022 and fostered a relationship. Despite the victim’s vehement opposition to physical intimacy before marriage, Patel allegedly subjected her to assault at various locations, including his residence in Lower Parel, a farmhouse in Alibag, and upscale hotels in Pune.

The lower court had previously granted Patel pre-arrest bail with conditions that strictly curtailed his movements. These conditions stipulated that he was not permitted to leave India without prior approval from the court. However, Patel filed a Miscellaneous Application seeking permission to travel to Tanzania for business purposes. The court, in November 2023, modified the bail condition to allow him to travel abroad from November 10, 2023, to November 9, 2025. Nevertheless, this allowance came with the mandate for Patel to report to the local police station regularly—monthly until the filing of the chargesheet and quarterly thereafter—besides obligating him to attend all court hearings promptly.

In its order, justice Revati Mohite Dere and justice Manjusha Deshpande emphasised Patel’s obligation to comply with various conditions, including providing a detailed itinerary of his overseas travel, maintaining communication with Indian authorities during his absence, and ensuring his return to India as per the prescribed schedule. Furthermore, the court directed the prosecution to promptly notify immigration authorities about the suspension of the LOC, instructing them to facilitate Patel’s travel unhindered.