A sessions court at Nashik Road on Monday reserved its order for May 2 on the anticipatory bail application of a TCS woman employee whom the Nashik police are searching for in a case of sexual exploitation and religious harassment of a woman co-worker that also involves two male co-accused.
During a proceeding that lasted four hours, the prosecution and the defence advocates completed their arguments on the plea. Additional sessions judge KG Joshi on April 20 had rejected the woman employee's plea for an interim bail following which her plea for anticipatory bail, filed on April 18, was posted for hearing on Monday.
The main accused in this case, registered on March 26 with the Deolali Camp police station, is facing charges of hiding his marital status and sexually exploiting the complainant on the promise of marrying her. He held the position of team lead in the TCS Nashik office. His colleague, a co-accused, is facing charges of sexually harassing the complainant in the office lobby and other places. The woman employee is named the third accused, who is facing charges of making comments hurting religious sentiments of the complainant.
The police have invoked charges under sections 69 (sexual intercourse obtained by deceitful means or a false promise to marry), 75 (sexual harassment), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the three accused. Besides, relevant charges under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocity) Act have also been applied.
Public prosecutor Ajay Misar told reporters outside the court that the state opposed the plea on 16 grounds. "We brought to the court's notice that the case is of serious nature involving charges of sexual exploitation and deliberate insult to the complainant's religious faith and sentiments," he said.
Misar said, "We submitted that the accused coerced the complainant in a bid to convert her religion. The (anticipatory bail) applicant provided the complainant with an enveloping outer garment and a holy book. These items were seized and panchanama documents have been submitted in court. The applicant downloaded a religious application on the complainant's phone, which has been sent for an expert analysis. She would frequently send YouTube and Instagram links and reels to the complainant regarding religious education."
The prosecutor said, "The investigators needed the applicant's custody to find the source from where she procured this religious material, identify who instructed her to send the same to the complainant and to investigate who provided financial support or shelter to them. The complainant has given a statement mentioning that the accused people changed her name to Haniya and were also in the process of preparing documents related to religious conversion through a party in Malegaon. Plans were also afoot to send her to Malaysia for a job through an individual."
Misar said, "We submitted that granting bail to the applicant would lead to witness tampering. The ground of pregnancy cited by the applicant to seek bail relief can be taken care of by ensuring her necessary medical care while in custody."
Defence counsel Rahul Kasliwal told reporters the state's main argument in the court was based on religious conversion. "Our case is that when there is no enactment in India about religious conversion, how could someone be charged with the same?" Kasliwal said.
