Allahabad High Court denies bail to pujari accused of sexually assaulting minor boy

The Allahabad High Court recently denied bail to a temple priest (pujari) who was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) for allegedly having unnatural sex with a minor boy..A Bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal said that the alleged offence has shaken the Court's conscience and that there was no prima facie reason to grant the accused pujari bail. "From the perusal of the statement of the victim, who is a minor aged about 12 years, it is clear that the applicant has committed offence which has shaken the conscious of this Court. There is no occasion why the victim, who is minor, would give such type of statement against the applicant. Looking to the gravity of the offence committed by the applicant, prima facie, no case for bail is made out, at this stage (sic)," the Court said. .According to the prosecution, the victim was an orphan being taken care of by his uncle and was around 11 years old when the incident took place. In February this year, the boy went to a fair and did not return. His uncle searched for him and eventually found the minor boy crying. The boy told his uncle that a priest took him away near a temple and had unnatural sex with him. A first information report (FIR) was lodged against the priest, and he was subsequently arrested. The offences cited in the FIR included Section 377 (which punishes non-consensual anal sex) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act.The priest then moved the High Court seeking bail in this case. Before the Court, the priest's counsel argued that he had been falsely implicated due to village enmity. The Court was told that the informant (the child’s uncle) wanted the accused removed from the temple, leading to the lodging of a false FIR.It was further argued that the injury report did not indicate that an offence under Section 377 of the IPC was committed and that no external injuries were found on the minor boy during the investigation.The State opposed the bail plea, asserting that the accused man's actions had shocked the public conscience..Taking into consideration the facts of the case, the Court deemed it fit to reject the bail plea.Advocate Arun Kumar appeared for accused priest..[Read Order]