Madhya Pradesh HC asks man to get rakhi tied by woman he had molested, pay Rs 5,000 to her son

Indore: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has asked a married 26-year-old man, accused of molesting a woman, to get a ‘’rakhi’’ tied by her on the day of Raksha Bandhan being celebrated on Monday. The court also asked the man to give Rs 11,000 to the woman as part of a customary offering made by brothers to sisters on the occasion and seek her blessings. The single bench of Justice Rohit Arya passed the order on 30 July while giving conditional bail to the accused, Vikram Bagri. In the order, the court said, “The applicant, along with his wife, shall visit the house of the complainant with rakhi thread/band on 3 August at 11 am with a box of sweets and request the complainant to tie the rakhi band to him with the promise to protect her to the best of his ability for all times to come.” Bagri is accused of entering the 30-year-old woman’s house in Ujjain, on 20 April, and was charged under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code. “Bagri would tender Rs 11,000 to the complainant as a customary ritual usually offered by brothers to sisters on the occasion and shall also seek her blessings,” the court said. Bagri has also been ordered to give Rs 5,000 to the complainant’s son to buy clothes and sweets. The high court also directed Bagri to furnish personal bonds of Rs 50,000 and solvent surety of equal amount in the lower court for his release.