Courts assess the seriousness of allegations and prior record before granting bail.

ORDER

This application is filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, BNSS )

seeking regular bail.

2. The applicant is the sole accused in Crime No.1155/2025 of Peerumade Police Station, Idukki District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 75(1)(i) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Sections 9 (l), 9(n), 9(p) and 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (PoCSO Act).

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that the applicant who is bound to protect the victim, who is a minor, with an intention and object of committing sexual harassment and to defame the victim, kissed on the lips of the victim, who was sleeping on the cot at about 1 a.m. early in the morning of 10.10.2025 from a resort in the Kuttikkanam in Kuttikkanam Kara of Peerumade Village, caused pain by catching both her breasts, and made to sit the victim on his lap at about 8 a.m, committed sexual harassment on the victim on earlier occasion also, and committed sexual harassment on the victim at her house in Kadar Harijan Colony at Vazhachal in Vazhachal Kara and Village in Trichur District while she was studying in the 10^th standard. Thus the applicant committed the above offences.

4. I have heard Sri.C.K. Radhakrishnan (Chalil), the learned counsel for the applicant and Smt.Sreeja V., 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 present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to bail. On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicant, and he is not entitled to bail at this stage.

6. The applicant was remanded to judicial custody on 14.02.2026. A perusal of the case diary would reveal that the accusation against the applicant is very serious, and it prima facie shows a premeditated criminal act on his part. The applicant is the close relative of the victim. A reading of the FIS would show that the victim, a minor girl, was sexually assaulted by the husband of her elder sister. A similar complaint was filed by the victim against the applicant in the year 2024, and a crime was registered against him. A reading of Annexure-2 would show that the victim did not support the prosecution case in that case. In the FIS, the victim specifically stated that the said case was compromised. Thereafter, the applicant again assaulted the victim. Considering the nature of the crime, the gravity of the offence, the complicity of the applicant in it, and the facts and circumstances mentioned above, I am of the view that the applicant cannot be released on bail at this stage.

The bail application, accordingly, is dismissed.

Sd/-