Madhya Pradesh HC allows bail to a man accused of outraging woman's modesty on condition that he requests her to tie him a 'Rakhi'

The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently directed a man accused of having outraged the modesty of a woman to present himself before the complainant so that she may tie a "rakhi" on his wrist as a condition for his release on bail (Vikram v. State of Madhya Pradesh).

As per the order passed by Justice Rohit Arya, the bail applicant and his wife are to visit the complainant's house on Monday morning (i.e. on Raksha Bandhan) with a Rakhi thread and a box of sweets.

Apart from requesting the complainant to tie the Rakhi, which customarily denotes a brother-sister relationship, the applicant is to make a promise that he would protect the complainant to the best of his ability for all times to come.

Added to this, the bail applicant is to give Rs 11,000 to the complainant, as "usually offered by brothers to sisters" during Raksha Bandhan and to seek her blessings. Moreover, he is to give an additional Rs 5,000 to the complainant's son for the "purchase of clothes and sweets."

The Court added that the applicant should obtain photographs and receipts of the payment made to the complainant and her son, and that the same should be filed in Court.

The applicant stands accused of having entered the complainant's house and outraged her modesty.

However, these allegations have been denied by the applicant, who said that the false complaint had been lodged after he demanded the repayment of a loan from the complainant's husband.

The Court declined to comment on the merits of the case, instead focusing on the fact that the bail applicant had been in jail for over two months and that he was no longer required for custodial interrogation.

Therefore, the Court allowed his release on bail on the furnishing of a Rs 50,000 bond and a surety of like amount.

Further, the Court also imposed the following additional conditions, i.e.

• the applicant shall undertake to abide by all COVID-19 norms, circulars, orders etc.

• the applicant shall install Aarogya Sethu App (if not already installed) in his mobile phone.

Read the Order: