In another incident of failing our daughters, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court arrived at a weird condition for granting bail to a man, who was accused of molesting a woman.
As per the condition, Madhya Pradesh High Court has asked a married 26-year-old man, accused of molesting a woman, to get a ‘rakhi’ tied by the complainant on the day of Rakshabandhan. Also, the man has to promise to “protect her for all times to come”.
Additionally, the court also asked the accused, Vikram Bagri, to give Rs 11,000 to the woman as part of a customary offering made by brothers to sisters on the occasion and seek her blessings.
As per NDTV, a single-judge bench of Justice Rohit Arya passed the order and said,
“The applicant, along with his, wife shall visit the house of the complainant with Rakhi thread on August 3, 2020, at 11 AM with a box of sweets and request the complainant to tie the Rakhi band to him with the promise to protect her to the best of his ability for all times to come.”
The bench also directed the accused to give Rs 5,000 to the complainant’s son for buying clothes and sweets.
As per the reports, the accused allegedly entered the 30-year-old woman’s house in Ujjain on April 20. He was charged under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC.
It’s not only us who are shocked at the decision, but many netizens also came forward to express their disgust:
What the hell… Brother sister relationship is pure…Rakhi is a promise to protect eachother from every evil …How can a girl tie rakhi to her molester..what kind of judiciary it is?
— Tania Mitra (@Taniithebong) August 2, 2020
This is wrong on so many levels.
— MobeenRaza_Official (@mobeenrb) August 2, 2020
Why should molested tie Rakhi to molester?
Why would it be ok to have the molester become part of the family?
What if the molester had molested a child too young to tie a Rakhi?
What next?
Friendship band for harassment?
Roka for attempted rape?
The court has asked the man, accused of sexual assault on a woman, to “protect her for all times to come”…?
— Roopali Srivastava (@RoopaliSriv) August 3, 2020
How messed up is that?
How horrifying for the woman..
Get Rakhi Tied By Woman You Molested: Madhya Pradesh High Court’s Bail Condition For Man https://t.co/17N9xE7Fgc
Correct me if I am wrong. Trying to say it in simpler words: A molester has been given the responsibility to protect the survivor. And it is not even from a novel or drama but straight outta Madhya Pradesh High Court.https://t.co/23G7cRB0SU
— Qadri Inzamam (@Qadri_Inzamam) August 2, 2020
It is heartbreaking how we expect a woman to forgive her own molester and accepts him as a brother. We are disappointed in what kind of precedent is our court setting for men accused of molestation?
At IFORHER, many of us are still struggling to understand what kind of justice it is!