HC grants bail to man accused of flashing, directs counselling for minor victim

New Delhi Aug 31 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has granted bail to a 63-year-old man accused of flashing at a minor girl and directed that the 10-year-old alleged victim be counselled as such incidents leave a “deep trauma”.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said the accused was an old man and was stated to be mentally unstable.

The judge also noted the man had not touched the girl nor verbally abused her.

“There is no doubt that such incidents leave a deep trauma on the victim but at the same time, the Court has to strive to maintain a balance…Without going into merits of the case and taking into account the age of the accused and that he has no past criminal antecedents, the accused is admitted to Court bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 20,000/- with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court,” the court said in a recent order.

“The IO (investigating officer) is directed to get the counselling session organized for the victim,” the court said, adding an NGO may be involved in counselling.

In the present case, an FIR was registered under section 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of IPC and section 12 (Punishment for sexual harassment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the petitioner accused who was arrested on June 24, 2023 and was in judicial custody ever since.

The victim alleged that on the morning on June 23, she was sitting near the staircase of her house when the petitioner, who lives in the same neighborhood, showed his private parts to her and uttered something.

As per the school record, the victim was born in June 2013, noted the court.

In the order, the court also directed the petitioner to not directly or indirectly make any threat etc to any person acquainted with the case and, in case any complaint is received by the police, he shall shift his residence beyond 5 km radius of the house occupied by the victim’s family.