The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has granted bail to Thangapandian, father of Kasi alias Suji, who is the main accused in the Nagercoil sexual harassment case. Thangapandian is the second accused in the case.
Taking note of the fact that the allegation against the petitioner, as per the final report, was that after knowing about the incident he tried to protect his son, Justice B. Pugalendhi granted bail to Thangapandian.
It is said that Kasi befriended several women from affluent families. After getting into their confidence, he would establish physical intimacy with them, record the act on a mobile phone and threaten them. He had extracted money amounting to several lakhs from the victims.
The CB-CID police recovered a laptop and a mobile phone from the main accused. After they were referred to a forensic science laboratory, around 1,900 obscene photographs and 400 videos were recovered from them. According to the investigating agency, around 120 women were exploited in a similar manner.
It is said that Thangapandian took the electronic gadgets of his son, the evidence in the case, and hid them. The judge said even assuming that the allegations were proved by the prosecution, he was liable to be punished for a maximum period of three years.
The judge took into account the fact that the petitioner was in judicial custody for more than 25 months. Considering that Thangapandian had health-related issues, the judge said, he was inclined to grant bail to him.
