Ranchi court orders a teenager to donate Quran for bail

In an unprecedented order, a court in Jharkhand capital Ranchi asked a 19-year-old girl to distribute five copies of Quran as a condition of her bail in a case of communal post on social media.

Judicial Magistrate Manish Kumar orders Richa Bharti, who was arrested on Saturday for posting objectionable content on social media, to donate a copy of Quran to Anjuman Islamia Committee and four copies to various libraries of schools and colleges.

She was taken into custody on Saturday night after a complaint was lodged against her for hurting sentiments of the minority community.

According to the local media reports, the arrest of Richa Bharti, who is a first-year student in a college, triggered unrest in the area after some Hindu groups protested for her immediate release. Rural SP Ashutosh Sekhar intervened to douse the protests.

The court has given 15 days time to follow the order.

However, the strange order has sparked controversy among Hindu organisations and local units of BJP.