Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has granted bail to a man accused of stalking a minor girl, threatening to morph her photographs into obscene images and post them on social media, and later trespassing into her house along with his relatives.
Justice K Sujana granted bail after noting that the accused had been in judicial custody since May 23, that all 12 witnesses cited by the prosecution had already been examined and that a substantial part of the investigation stood completed.
According to the prosecution, the accused was known to the complainant’s family and had taken photographs of her 14-year-old daughter during a family function. He is alleged to have then stalked the girl, pressured her to talk and chat with him and threatened to morph her photographs into obscene images and circulate them online.
Despite being counselled in the presence of family elders, his conduct is alleged to have continued. The complaint further states that on May 6 this year, the accused and his relatives trespassed into the complainant’s house, abused the family members and attempted to assault them. A case was registered at the Attapur Police Station in Hyderabad.
The accused was booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) that deal with voyeurism, stalking, insulting a woman’s modesty, intentional insult meant to provoke a breach of peace, criminal intimidation through threats of grievous harm and house trespass. He was also charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Counsel for the accused told the court that his client had been falsely implicated, that the investigation was substantially over, that he was the sole breadwinner for his family and that he was willing to cooperate with the probe and unlikely to abscond or tamper with evidence.
The state opposed the plea, pointing out that the case involved a 14-year-old minor and disclosed serious offences under the POCSO Act. It argued that the accused’s conduct posed a continuing threat to the victim, that a trial court had already turned down his bail plea given the seriousness of the allegations and that granting bail at this stage would harm both the victim’s interests and the course of justice.
Weighing both sides, the High Court held that with the witnesses already examined and the bulk of the investigation complete, and given that the accused had already spent over a month and a half in custody, he was entitled to bail.
It directed him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with two sureties of the same amount and to report to the local police station every Monday at 11 am for eight weeks or until the charge sheet is filed, whichever is earlier, and thereafter as and when required.
