It Is The Gravest Sin: Gujarat HC Quotes From Manusmriti While Denying Bail To Man Accused Of Molesting 12-Yr Old Daughter

The Gujarat High Court has refused to grant bail to a man accused of molesting his 12-year-old daughter.

The Single Bench of Justice Samir J. Dave observed that "It is the gravest sin, where the most platonic relationship is shattered by an extreme pervert and shameful act of nonetheless but one's own father."

While denying bail to the man the Court observed that it shocks the human conscience when the sanctity of the father and daughter relationship is ravaged.

The Court also noted some of the famous shlokas from Manusmriti and Padma Pauran about ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’ while pronouncing the judgment.

The Court held, “It shocks human conscience when the sanctity of father and daughter relationship is ravaged in such a sordid manner and the protector becomes the violator. In such a case the offence assumes a greater degree of vulnerability which shall not go unpunished.”

The Bench said that there can never be a graver heinous crime than the father being charged with raping or molesting his daughter.

The Court further asserted, “The moral values of individuals of the society have gone down to such a level that every day we hear similar news which shudders our mind and soul.”

Advocate Parth J Adhyaru appeared on behalf of the applicant while APP Monali Bhatt represented the respondent.

Facts –

The victim informed the complainant i.e., the wife of the accused in presence of other people that when she was alone in the house, her father i.e., the accused/applicant caught hold of her hand and drove her into the house and moved his hand inappropriately on the chest part and physically molested her. The accused in presence of other people declared that he wanted to marry her minor daughter.

The FIR came to be lodged for the commission of offences under Sections 354(A), 354(B), and 506(2) of the Indian Penal Code read with Sections 8, 12, and 18 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Hence, the accused filed an application before the High Court seeking bail.

After hearing both parties' contentions, the High Court observed, “The purity that a father-daughter relation carries, when shattered in such a manner, obliterates the sanctity and belief in any existing relation. A daughter looks to her father to protect her from outside evils and when the very same protector rips her apart, the trauma one suffers as a consequence of such an act cannot even be described in simple terms.”

The Court further asserted that the beastly act of ravishing a child for exerting his position of male dominance and violating her physical and mental well-being is an attitude of a savage tribe and not of a civilized society.

The Court further said, “It is appalling to see that rape/ molestation rears its ugly facade almost every day. 'Rape'/ ‘molestation’ is one such dark reality in the Indian Society that devastates a women's soul, shatters her self-respect and for a few, purges their hope to live. It shakes the insight of a woman/ girl who once was a 'happy person', and had no clue of being a victim of the said horrifying and nightmarish encounters where the daughter had been raped/ molested by none else but her own progenitor.”

The Court also noted that there are no reasonable grounds for believing that the applicant is not guilty of the alleged offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.

The Court, therefore, concluded, “… it appears that the prosecution has clearly established the prima facie case against the present applicant and thus, this Court is not inclined to exercise the powers vested under section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure Code for releasing the present applicant on bail.”

Accordingly, the Court rejected the bail plea.

Cause Title- Fakirmamad Hushenbhai Sumbhaniya v. State of Gujarat

Click here to read/download the Judgment