Rajasthan High Court Grants Conditional Bail To Man Accused Of Child Sexual Abuse-Online Stalking, Bars Him From Social Media
Jaipur, Rajasthan: The Rajasthan High Court recently granted conditional bail to a 20-year-old man accused of child sexual harassment and online stalking. The court stated that the man should not use social media for one year, and the bail could be cancelled if the accused man uses social media even under any fictitious name, Bar and Bench reported.
Justice Ashok Kumar Jain passed the direction while granting bail to the accused. The accused man has been in custody since February 24 after being arrested by Bikaner police in February this year under Sections 78(2) (online stalking) and 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 11/12 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
While granting bail, the high court said that the accused is restrained from using all kinds of social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Snap Chat, Thread, Share Chat etc. for a period of one year. “In case it is found that he is using any of the social media platforms during said period of one year either in his name or in any fictitious name using his mobile/E-mail ID or a fictitious E-mail ID then the bail order shall be recalled,” the court stated.
The accused man had sought bail arguing that he was falsely implicated in the case. He said that the case was registered on basis of a complaint lodged by the father of a minor victim about sexual harassment, but except oral statements, no material was submitted to substantiate the charge.
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The court then noted that the accused has remained in custody for a considerable period of time and that the trial was likely to take further time to conclude, deeming it appropriate to grant bail to the accused while also considering the material on record and nature of allegations.
