High court grants bail to man who 'eloped' with woman of another faith

DEHRADUN: A single bench of Justice Rakesh Thapliyal of the Uttarakhand high court has granted bail to a Muslim man who was charged under IPC sections 366 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act. The 30-year-old had "eloped" with a 40-year-old married woman of different religion, in July this year.

The interfaith couple's "disappearance" from Dwarahat in Almora district had triggered a huge controversy in the town with many alleging that it was a case of 'love jihad'. Some locals even tried to vandalise the man's barber shop, but police intervened.

In court, defence counsel Sanjay Bhatt argued that there was no medical evidence supporting the rape allegation and both were already married to different partners, which rules out the intent of eloping for marriage. Bhatt asserted that the allegations in the FIR were fabricated to implicate his client.

The defence presented call details as evidence, showing that the accused and victim became friends in May last year and were in touch over phone. He told the court his client and the victim were "close friends". "Even on perusal of FIR, no offence was made against him, and contents of FIR lodged by woman's husband relate only to her being missing. Initially, client's name was not disclosed..." Bhatt added.