HC tells accused to get rakhi tied by survivor

BHOPAL: The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court has granted bail to a man accused of sexual harassment on condition that he would visit the complainant with a box of sweets, request her to tie a Rakhi on his wrist, promise to protect her and gift her ~11,000 as part of the customs observed on Raksha Bandhan.

The court, through its order passed on Thursday, granted bail to the man on a personal bond of ~50,000 with one solvent surety of an equal amount. “The applicant along with his wife shall visit the house of the complainant with a Rakhi thread / band at 11 am on August 3 with a box of sweets and request the complainant to tie the Rakhi band to him with the promise to protect her to the best of his ability for all times to come,” a single bench of justice Rohit Arya said in the order. “He shall also tender ₹11,000 to the complainant as a customary ritual usually offered by the brothers to sisters on such occasion and shall also seek her blessings. The applicant shall also tender ₹5,000 to the son of the complainant for purchase of clothes and sweets,” it added.

The bail applicant was ordered to produce photographs of the occasion and receipts of payments to the complainant and her son before the court registry. “The woman, a resident of Ujjain district, lodged a complaint against her neighbour on April 20 that he had barged into her house and sexually harassed her,” government advocate Sudhanshu Vyas said. An FIR was registered with Bhatpachalana police station under section 354 (sexual harassment), 452 (house trespass), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.