Four of the five accused juveniles arrested in the Jubilee Hills gang rape case, were released on bail on Tuesday, 27 July. Meanwhile, the Nampally metropolitan court rejected prime accused Saduddin Malik’s (18) bail petition.
While the Juvenile Justice Board in the Nampally criminal court complex granted them bail, it rejected the bail petition of the fifth juvenile, the son of a legislator, citing grounds of the bail petition being pending before the high court, Hindustan Times reported.
The five juveniles had moved separate bail petitions twice in June but were rejected in the past. However, four of them were granted bail on the production of a surety for Rs 5,000 each.
The court further directed them to cooperate with investigating officers and record their attendance before the District Probation Officer on the first Monday of every month, NDTV reported.
Malik was arrested by the Jubilee Hills police on 3 June and was lodged in Chanchalguda Jail, while the other five accused, all juveniles, were arrested between 4 and 7 June and were remanded in the juvenile court’s custody.
What Was the Incident?
A group of young men allegedly raped a minor girl inside an Innova car in Hyderabad on 28 May. The incident took place while the 17-year-old girl was returning from a party at a pub in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. The survivor and the accused were attendees of a party hosted at the pub.
The accused, who had already conspired to rape the survivor, offered to drop the girl home in their car, as per the police.
The survivor was first taken in a Mercedes car and was molested. Photographs of the accused persons kissing the survivor were taken inside the Mercedes. These photographs were later circulated. The survivor was later asked to board an Innova car where she was raped by five persons, including four minors.
While the girl had initially not reported the incident to her family, since she had visible injuries on her neck from the assault, her father lodged a complaint at the Jubilee Hills police station.
The police on 31 May registered a case for "outraging the modesty of a woman" and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. After the survivor reported the sexual assault to the medical officer, the charge of rape was added to the case on 1 June.
The accused were also charged under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.
The National Council for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had also asked the Hyderabad police to provide an explanation over the delay in the registration of an FIR in the case.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)