A magistrate court in Mumbai granted bail to a 22-year-old law student arrested in connection with objectionable conversations against women in a chatroom on Clubhouse app.
Yashkumar Parashar, a resident of Faridabad, Haryana, was arrested by the Mumbai police on January 20 after an FIR was registered against him and two others — Aakash Suyal, 19, and Jaishnav Kakkar, 21 — for allegedly creating a chatroom where derogatory and objectionable remarks were made against Muslim women.
Aakash and Suyal continue to remain in judicial custody. A detailed order granting bail to Yashkumar is awaited by the metropolitan magistrate.
All the accused are charged under Sections153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc.), 295A (insulting religious beliefs),354A (sexual harassment and punishment)354D (stalking), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act.
Meanwhile, a civil and sessions court in Mumbai will pass an order on the bail plea filed by Vishal Kumar Jha, 21, arrested from Bengaluru in the Bulli Bai app case on February 5. This app was used to doctor photos of Muslim women and “auction” them. On January 20, a magistrate court had rejected Vishal’s bail plea saying, “No doubttheaccused persons are students of tender age and they have fundamental right to life and liberty. But those rights are subjected to reasonable restrictions. They are found to have committed serious acts defaming womanhood.”
