Cal HC grants bail to 80-year old accused of raping minor

Kolkata, Nov 19 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted conditional bail to an 80-year-old man accused of rape of a minor, considering his advanced age.

The court also took note of more than five-month detention of the accused man, who was arrested in connection with the case registered at Murutia police station in West Bengal's Nadia district in June this year.

Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, considering the advanced age of the detainee, granted bail to the man.

Stating that the accused is around 80 years old, his lawyer claimed that he has been falsely implicated in the case.

The court directed that the petitioner will be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs 20,000 with two sureties of Rs 10,000 each, one of whom must be local.

Justice Ghosh also directed the petitioner to be physically present on each and every date fixed by the trial court and that he will not leave the jurisdiction of the district of Nadia without prior permission of the court.

Praying for bail, the petitioner's lawyer submitted before the court that in spite of charge-sheet having been submitted, charge has not been framed before the trial court in the case, by which it is decided under which sections of law the accused will be tried.

As per the FIR, the petitioner has been accused under Section 65 (1) (punishment for a person who commits rape on a woman under 16 years of age) and Section 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO).

The petitioner's lawyer stated before the court that the prosecution proposes to examine 16 witnesses in support of its case and, as such, there is no scope for the trial to be concluded in near future.

The advocate appearing for the state opposed the bail prayer after drawing the attention of the court to the statement of the victim before a magistrate, as well as the medical documents. PTI AMR NN