The Delhi High Court on Friday granted bail to a man accused of raping a woman because she had a tattoo of his name on her forearm.
In the order, a single-judge bench of Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar said, “In my opinion, making of tattoo is an art and special machine is required for the same. Moreover, it is also not easy to make such a tattoo which is on the forearm of the complainant if there is some resistance from the other side. It is not everybody’s job and it is also not the case of the prosecutrix that the petitioner had anything to do with the tattoo business.”
According to the case registered by police under IPC sections 376 and 506 in 2020, the prosecutrix was a married woman who alleged that the accused forced her to have physical relations with him by threatening and blackmailing her on the basis of nude photos and videos.
She further alleged that due to this threat, she remained silent for three years and did not file any complaint against him nor disclose it to her husband. The woman further alleged that she told the accused he has ruined her life and asked him to keep her but he was not ready to keep her with him.
Advocate Sahil Mongia, who appeared for the accused (Sanjay), said that the complainant, who was married, loved him and claimed they were in a consensual relationship. Counsel for the accused also showed photos of the tattoo on the woman’s arm and said she clicked selfies with him, exchanged garlands, attended festivities, and sent him a Facebook friend request.
The court said the prosecutrix kept quiet for three years and did not make any complaint against the accused and did not inform her husband either.
The Court also noted that as per the chargesheet filed in the case, the house where the prosecutrix was allegedly held in captivity was taken on rent by the prosecutrix herself and as per the landlord, she resided there alone.
The Court noted that the police probe revealed that at the time of arrest, the accused’s mobile phone was seized but no nude photographs were found and that there was a delay of seven months in lodging the case by the woman.
The bench took into account the presence of the tattoo on the prosecutrix’s forearm bearing accused’s name.
“The petitioner is admitted to bail on his furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs 25,000 with one surety of the like amount subject to the satisfaction of the concerned Court below,” ordered the Court while granting bail to the accused.
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