MADURAI: The Madras High Court Bench here has come across a case of a suspect in a child sexual abuse complaint having threatened the minor girl to make a volte-face before the court and absolve him of the charge in order to obtain anticipatory bail and contest in the forthcoming local body elections.
Dismissing the advance bail plea, Justice S. Vaidyanathan said: “It is a curse to our nation that only persons like the petitioner alone contest in the election. Facing criminal cases has become an unprescribed qualification to contest elections and if such persons are allowed to lead our citizens, it will definitely wreak havoc.
“People, more particularly women and children, may feel insecure at their hands. Hence, considering the serious nature of the allegation levelled against the petitioner, this court is of the view that it is a fit case for subjecting the petitioner to custodial interrogation, to unearth the real factum, rather than allowing him to wander scot free.”
The judge said the petitioner, owning a textile and footwear shop, had approached the court seeking anticipatory bail on the ground that he had chided the minor girl for breaking a flower vase and other glass materials in his shop and that had been given a colour of sexual harassment to book him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
He also urged the court to summon the victim and examine her before taking a decision on his plea. The judge acceded to the request and examined the girl in his chambers in the presence of his two Personal Assistants, one of whom was a woman. Then, the victim gave a clean chit to the petitioner and supported his version of the case.
However, when the judge was about to pass orders granting advance bail to the petitioner, the Government Advocate intervened and sought time to produce statements made by the girl before the police under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and before a Judicial Magistrate under Section 164 of the Cr.P.C.
Subsequently, on reading the statements wherein the girl had categorically stated to have been sexually abused and also after going through the Accident Register in which it was mentioned that there was a sexual assault on her, the judge said: “It is obvious that the petitioner is a man armed with muscle and money power and therefore, there is every possibility of the victim girl and her family having been threatened...
“The petitioner has also deputed one of his relatives to keep a watch over the court proceedings and find out as to whether any contra statement was being made by the victim girl.”
