Nine women lawyers including a Supreme Court advocate Aparna Bhat, have moved the Apex Court challenging the 30th July bail condition imposed by Madhya Pradesh High Court wherein a man accused of sexual assault was asked to get a Rakhi tied by the victim.
The petition filed by Advocate on Record; Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar has further clarified that they have not challenged the grant of bail but only the condition set out of tying rakhi to the accused while citing it to be a gross trivialization of the trauma suffered by the complainant.
“The applicant along with his wife shall visit the house of the complainant with Rakhi thread/band on 3rd August 2020 at 11:00 am with a box of sweets and request the complainant- Sarda Bai to tie the Rakhi band to him with the promise to protect her to the best of his ability for all times to come. He shall also tender Rs. 11,000/- (Rs. Eleven Thousand Only) to the complainant as a customary ritual usually offered by the brothers to sisters on such occasion and shall also seek her blessings,” read the challenged High Court order.
Therefore, through the present plea, the petitioners asked as to whether the High Court ought not to have employed circumspection and sensitivity while dealing with a case involving a sexual offense and also related to wrongful entry into the property of the victim.
“The Hon’ble High Court ought to have been cognizant and sensitive to the fact that in a case involving a sexual offense having been committed against a woman, it is immeasurably difficult for the survivor to lodge an FIR and pursue a criminal case against the accused at the threshold,” read the plea.
Further, the plea added that “While it is routine for courts to award certain compensation to survivors of sexual offenses to be paid by the accused, it is highly objectionable for the HC in the present case to put the complainant in a position where she is forced to accept the sum of Rs 11,000.”
The plea is likely to be heard by the Supreme Court on 16th October.
