Shivangi Prakash-
Meghalaya High Court denied a bail application submitted by a BA student accused in a case involving gang rape of a 16-year-old minor girl. However, the Court ordered the jail officials to give him the requisite facilities for attending virtual lectures.
A single-judge bench led by Justice W. Diengdoh was hearing a bail request from Shri Habibul Islam in a POCSO case.
On the 21st of August of last year, the victim’s father filed an FIR, claiming that he discovered his 16-year-old daughter, severely bleeding. He then, upon inquiry, was informed that she had been abducted and gang-raped by three men.
The petitioner, however, claimed that the FIR was simply filed as a counter-blast and that he and the victim had a love affair. It was also reported that there was proof of a message exchange between the two on social media networking site, which was erased by the victim after the incident.
The Court stated that the case concerning the accused revolves around an accusation of not just rape simpliciter but gang rape. That is a case of sexual attack by multiple people.
In such a case, this Court would approach the situation with caution and decided that releasing the accused on bail would be a bad idea.
It was argued that the accused was innocent because the victim’s medical assessment revealed that there was no evidence of a sexual assault.
It was contended that the fact that the accused is a college student doing his final year in Bachelor of Arts at Gauhati University’s South Salmara College is one of the considerations, the Court should consider granting bail to the accused.
The Court directed that “Considering the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner as regards the fact that the accused, Habibul Islam is a student pursuing his studies in BA, this Court hereby directs the jail authorities to provide all the necessary facilities even by allowing the accused to attend his classes through virtual modes.“