75-year-old man arrested for daughter-in-law’s sexual assault gets bail after amicable settlement

Justice M G S Kamal was hearing the bail plea filed by the father-in-law.

Allegations of sexual assault

• It was placed on record before the Karnataka High Court that the case was registered pursuant to a complaint filed by the woman alleging harassment, sexual assault and mental torture by her father-in-law, husband, mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law.
• She alleged that her father-in-law had sexually assaulted her on several occasions.
• Based on her complaint, a criminal case was registered against the petitioner and the other family members.

No objection

• Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Syed Naseeruddin argued before the Karnataka High Court that the accused was 75 years old and a senior citizen.
• He submitted that the petitioner had been falsely implicated due to the matrimonial dispute between the complainant and her husband, and that the complaint contained omnibus allegations without specific particulars regarding dates, time or independent corroboration.
• Accordingly, he sought the grant of bail.
• The woman was personally present before the court and represented by counsel. She and her counsel expressly stated that they had no objection to the grant of bail and informed the Court that the matter was being settled amicably between the parties.
• Opposing the petition, Karnataka High Court government pleader Sunil S Rao submitted that the allegations were serious in nature and included allegations of assault. Therefore, the petitioner was not entitled to bail.

Bail conditions

The accused was directed to be enlarged on bail for the offences, subject to the conditions that he should execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs 1 lakh with two local sureties for the like sum, to the satisfaction of the trial court.

The accused was also directed to appear regularly on all the dates of hearing before the trial court unless the said court exempted his appearance for valid reasons.

It was added that the father-in-law should not directly or indirectly threaten or tamper with the prosecution witnesses.

‘Frame rules, not fathers’: Madras High Court

Raising serious concerns over the “alarming trend” of misusing the 1098 child helpline, the Madras High Court on May 14 granted bail to a father accused of sexually assaulting his daughter, noting a recurring pattern of children allegedly being coerced by Child Welfare Committee (CWC) officials to level false sexual abuse allegations against their fathers.

Justice K K Ramakrishnan directed the state to frame guidelines ensuring fair and transparent recording of children’s statements without inducing, tutoring or coercing them to make allegations against any person, including family members.

“This Court painfully notices an alarming trend in certain cases involving allegations against fathers, wherein some officials attached to the Child Welfare Committee, shelter homes, or even police personnel appear to insist upon or induce the child victims to make allegations of sexual abuse against their fathers,” the order noted.