The court granted pre-arrest bail after considering intimate relationship evidence and the nature of allegations.

ORDER

This application is filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, BNSS ), seeking pre-arrest bail.

2. The applicant is the sole accused in Crime No.1505/2025 of Koothattukulam Police Station, Ernakulam District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 366A, 376 and 376(2) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Sections 4(2) r/w 3(a), 8 r/w 7, 6 r/w 5(l) and 10 r/w 9(l) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that the applicant developed an intimate relationship with the survivor girl aged 13 years while she was studying in 9^th Standard, with the deliberate intention to have sexual relationship with her, on several occasions from 5/12/2019 till 30/3/2022, he took the victim to his house situated in Kizhakkombu Kara of Koothattukulam Village, committed sexual assault including penetrative sexual assaults and even thereafter when the victim left India for her higher studies, the applicant followed her through electronic media, threatened her, also uploaded the pictures in Instagram and other social media, thus sexually harassed the victim and thereby committed the above offences.

4. I have heard Sri.S.Rajeev, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.K.A. Noushad, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

5. The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the above crime. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to bail. The learned Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as part of the applicant's intentional criminal acts, and if he is released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.

6. The applicant is now aged 25 years, and the victim is aged 21 years. The victim is at present in New Zealand pursuing her higher studies. A reading of the FIS would show that the applicant and the victim met while they were in school. Their relationship turned to romance over a period of time. In the FIS, it is alleged that the applicant subjected the victim to sexual assault firstly on 05.12.2019, secondly, on 22.02.2020 and thereafter on a few occasions till March 2022. In short, the victim alleges that she was subjected to sexual assault by the applicant for the period from December 2019 to March 2022. Even though the victim admits that they were in a romantic relationship, at the same time, she says that all these sexual acts were without her consent and forceful in nature. The veracity of the said allegation has to be tested in the backdrop of documents and pen drive produced by the applicant along with the bail application.

7. Admittedly, the victim left for New Zealand at the end of December 2023 for her higher studies, and she is still there. The documents produced by the applicant along with the bail application would indicate that even after she reached New Zealand, she continued to contact the applicant and his family members regularly. Annexure A6 series to A15 are the printouts of some of the photographs figuring the applicant, victim, and their family members. It would show that even after the last alleged incident in March 2022, they were in intimate relationship. Annexure A14 is the screenshot of a story posted by the victim in her Instagram account on 12.01.2024 showing the photograph of the applicant, victim, and some of their common friends. Annexure A16 is the pendrive containing some of the recordings of video calls made by the victim to the applicant while she was in New Zealand. I viewed it in the