The Supreme Court is said to hear a petition on Wednesday filed by a Jaipur-based woman, challenging the anticipatory bail granted by the Delhi High Court to a man accused of raping her in a lounge at Laxmi Nagar School Zone in Delhi.
According to the complainant, she had received a friend request from the Facebook account of accused Prince Singh alias Prince Kumar, which she accepted. Thereafter, they started chatting with each other through messenger and friendship developed between them. The woman said she came to Delhi to meet the accused in 2019, when the accused raped here.
A bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana, will hear the plea.
The Delhi High Court, while granting anticipatory bail to the man, had noted that the complainant is a married lady and mother of two children. Despite that, she developed friendship through Facebook with the petitioner/accused. Moreover, she herself visited Delhi and met the man, where the alleged incident took place, the High Court added.
The charge sheet was not filed at the time of granting the anticipatory bail. The APP had informed the High Court that it was at an advance stage and would be filed under Section 376 against the accused/petitioner.
The woman filed a written complaint to the SHO of Police Station Shakarpur on July 6, 2019, on the basis of which, an FIR was registered against the accused.
The Counsel for the accused had submitted before the High Court that the alleged incident took place on January 10, 2019, but the FIR was registered on July 6, after an unexplained delay of six months. “There is no medical document to support the averments of the complainant. Moreover, there is no public or independent witness to substantiate the allegation. Even after the alleged incident, the complainant was in touch with the petitioner through phone calls for about one week,” he submitted.
“The complainant knows how to take innocent persons into her clutches and extort money from them. She is a resident of Jaipur and for what purpose she came to Delhi. Moreover, she is a married lady and having two children,” the Counsel for Prince had submitted before the High Court.
The Counsel for the complainant woman submitted, “The accused booked a lounge on January 10, 2019 at Laxmi Nagar School Zone and developed a physical relation with the complainant in that lounge. He not only compelled the complainant to have sexual intercourse with him, but also took her objectionable photographs and videos. Moreover, he shared those photographs and videos with a friend of petitioner and the woman namely Rohit, who informed the complainant about the same.”
“She called the accused after the incident, requesting him not to publish her photos, videos or photographs on social media and also not to share the same with any friend. The complainant feared the petitioner/accused and was in touch with him after the alleged incident. If bail is granted to the petitioner, he may influence the witnesses and tamper with the evidence,” the woman’s Counsel added.
The Delhi High Court, after considering the submission, had granted bail to the accused on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety in the like amount, subject to the satisfaction of the Arresting Officer/SHO/IO concerned. Further, the accused was directed to cooperate with the investigation and make himself available for interrogation by the police officer, as and when required.