Harassment case: Bombay high court grants anticipatory bail to Bollywood actor’s brother

The complainant is the actor’s estrange wife who, in her complaint, had alleged that the man had outraged her modesty

The Bombay high court (HC) last week granted anticipatory bail to the brother of a Bollywood actor, who was booked for outraging the modesty of his sister-in-law.

Bombay high court. (HT archive)

The complainant is the estranged wife of the actor.

Justice Sarang Kotwal granted pre-arrest bail to the actor’s brother on the grounds that the victim’s version of the incident appeared doubtful.

The actor’s brother was booked under sections 354 (assault or use of force with an intent to outrage modesty of a woman), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and a case was registered on the basis of his sister-in-law’s complaint at Versova police station in Mumbai.

The woman purportedly got acquainted with the accused in 2003, and through him she got in touch with the actor in the same year. The complainant was in a live-in relationship with the actor and they got married in March 2010.

However, two years after the marriage, the couple started squabbling frequently following which she started living separately from 2012.

The accused allegedly used to pass indecent remarks about her and also sought sexual favours from her.

She further alleged that in 2012, the accused had posted her morphed picture online because of which she received several indecent phone calls, and the harassment stopped after the matter was reported to Mumbai Police’s cyber cell department.

She also alleged an inappropriate behaviour by him, when he had come to hand over the maintenance amount sent by her estranged husband in 2012.

She claimed that the accused not only stalked her between 2014 and 2016, but was also instrumental in illegally obtaining her call data record.

However, Justice Kotwal was unimpressed with her accusations.

The judge said her modesty was allegedly outraged in 2012. “However, she neither took any steps, nor made any allegations since the incident occurred in 2012 and a complaint was filed subsequently,” said the judge.

HC noted that even after the last alleged incident, which had occurred April 2019, when the accused offered her air tickets, no complaint was filed for around a year.

“In this view of the matter, the informant’s story appears to be doubtful,” said the court and granted anticipatory bail to the accused.