Women going to extreme lengths to get justice

Many women who are victims of injustice are refusing to be confined to the role of silent spectators and are ready to go to any lengths, even approaching the Supreme Court, in order to secure justice.

Gururaj L, serving as a lecturer in a PU college in Subrahmanya town, was arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, by Subrahmanya police, based on the complaint from the victim’s 58-year-old mother.

The accused lecturer, who was produced before the fifth additional district and sessions judge in Puttur on the evening of August 8, 2021, was released on bail on August 10.

When the accused lecturer managed to secure bail within a day, the entire world had seemed to have conspired against the victim’s mother. But, the feisty woman refused to give up.

She engaged an advocate and moved a petition in the High Court challenging the lower court’s order to release the accused lecturer on bail. She appealed to the apex court on arresting Gururaj under section 439(2) of CrPC.

Advocate Sachin B S, arguing on behalf of the mother, said the victim was sexually harassed by the lecturer for a period of three years.

When the victim was 14 years, studying in the eighth standard, she had approached Gururaj seeking his assistance for a school project. Both Gururaj and his wife had allegedly stripped the victim and had taken photographs. Gururaj besides sexually assaulting the victim had also blackmailed her into paying money, said Sachin.

Subrahmanya police, based on the mother’s complaint, had arrested Gururaj under 376(2), 506 and 384 of IPC and Sections 4, 5(f), 6, 8 and 14 of the POCSO Act and section 67(b) of the Information Technology Act. Despite such grave charges, the court without giving notice to the victim girl, who was below 16 years of age, had released the accused Gururaj on bail.

An advocate, on behalf of Gururaj, citing previous judgements, argued that the bail granted should not be cancelled.

Sachin, countering the argument, asserted that under the law, section 376(3) of IPC, granting bail to Gururaj was unlawful. The High Court, upholding the arguments, had cancelled the bail and ordered the arrest of Gururaj.

In November 2020, a 30-year-old Bengaluru-based woman entrepreneur filed a complaint accusing Chamarajpete police station Sub-Inspector Vishwanath Biradar of sexually assaulting her in one of the lodgings in Dharmasthala.

Dharmasthala police, however, instead of registering the complaint against the sub-inspector, had first registered the SI’s counter-complaint accusing the woman of demanding Rs 12 lakh.

Subsequently, the sixth additional district and sessions court judge also released the SI on bail. The entrepreneur, however, did not lose hope and wrote letters to the Dakshina Kannada superintendent of police and other senior police officials.

When she received no response, she filed a petition in the High Court. After hearing the arguments and counter-arguments, the High Court quashed the lower court’s order on releasing Sub Inspector Sub-Inspector Vishwanath Biradar on bail.

The court, besides handing the case over to the CID, also ordered the Dakshina Kannada superintendent of police to initiate action against then Inspector of Dharmasthala police station Sandesh and Sub-Inspector Pavan.

The High Court’s order quashing SI Biredar’s bail was subsequently upheld by the Supreme court as well.

“Only intense follow-up will ensure justice,” says Advocate Mubeen Lateef, who also had approached the apex court to cancel bail orders of those who had murdered her husband.