K’taka court grants anticipatory bail to rape accused; slams victim
Bengaluru: Slamming the victim for not filing a complaint with the police soon after the incident, the Karnataka High Court granted anticipatory bail to an accused in a rape case against him, a lawyer said on Thursday.
“Granting anticipatory bail to the accused, an employee in a private firm owned by the victim, on June 22, Justice Krishna Dixit said that it was ‘unbecoming’ of an alleged rape victim to have fallen asleep after being ‘ravished’ instead of filing a complaint against the accused soon,” the defendant’s counsel said here.
The judge also observed that it was unbecoming of a woman to say she could not call the police or file a complaint, as she was tired and fell asleep after being ravished.
“The anticipatory bail was granted because the victim did not raise an alarm when the accused got into her car; she consumed alcohol with him and failed to lodge a complaint against him at the earliest point after the incident,” said the counsel, citing the order.
The victim had alleged that her employee had developed sexual relations with her over the last 2 years on the pretext of marrying her.
On a belated complaint, the police charged the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for sexual assault, cheating and criminal intimidation.
When the prosecution opposed the bail, as the offence was criminal with supporting evidence, the judge said the ‘serious nature’ of the crime alone could not be a criterion to deny liberty to a citizen, especially when no prime facie case has been made by the police.
