Indore Bangle Seller, Who Was Thrashed By Mob, Denied Bail In A Molestation Case

A Indore Court has rejected the bail application of the bangle seller who was assaulted by a group of men allegedly because of his religion. Within 24 hours of the purported incident of assault, the bangle-seller was booked for allegedly touching a 13-year-old girl inappropriately, among other offenses.

One Rakesh Pawar filed the complaint, the minor girl's father, who the applicant allegedly molested. The applicant has been booked under Section 354/354A/ 467/468/471/420/506 of IPC & Section 7 & 8 of the POCSO Act.

The copy of the order is yet to be uploaded.

Filed through Advocate Ehtesham Hashmi, the bail application argues that the said complaint is filed based on a concocted and fabricated story without any factual basis, suppressing the actual facts. It is the petitioner's case that the complainant was a part of the mob, and the applicant has filed a complaint against him and other persons for beating him mercilessly, and thus the present FIR is an attempt to frame him falsely.

Narrating the day's incidents on which the applicant was assaulted, the application states that after being beaten, the mob destroyed his documents and stole a sum of Rs. 10,000/- from him. After that, when the applicant approached the police station, where the police refused to lodge his complaint. As the video of a mob assaulting the applicant had been widely circulated on social media, a large crowd gathered outside the police station demanding registration of FIR. It was only after that that the FIR was registered against the complainant and others.

The FIR against the bangle-seller narrates that he went to the complainant's house and only upon showing his ID by Golu, son of Mohan Singh they believed him to be a 'good-person', and further engaged in buying bangles. When the complainant's wife went inside her house to bring money, it is alleged that the applicant inappropriately touched the minor girl. The minor girl shouted on which a few neighbors and her mother came. On being questioned on his conduct, he allegedly threatened to kill them. He ran away, leaving behind his belongings which contained two Aadhaar Cards on his name- one stated him by the name Asleem, son of Mor Singh, and the other by Tasleem, son of Mohar Ali.

The bail application argues that: a) the said story as mentioned in the FIR is an afterthought to the applicant filing a complaint against the complainant and other; and b) if the applicant ran leaving his belongings behind, as mentioned in the FIR, how is he seen with his belongings in the video where he is being thrashed; (c) the audio of the video makes no mention of the minor girl and the alleged incident of molestation, instead they were asking his name repeatedly; and (d) the narration of facts made in the FIR does not disclose an offense under Sections 7 and 8 of the POCSO Act.

Title: Tasleem v. State BA 3981/2021

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