Karnataka High Court denies bail to man accused of abducting, taking nude photos of male victim

The Karnataka High Court recently rejected a bail petition of a man who had allegedly abducted, confined, physically assaulted and stripped another man [N Manjunath v State of Karnataka].Justice HP Sandesh noted that the victim had been abducted and nude photographs of him had been uploaded in connection with a financial transaction. Moreover, as the accused left the country to go to America immediately after the incident, it was not a fit case to grant bail. ."I am of the opinion that it is not a fit case to exercise the discretion under Section 438 of the CrPC to enlarge him on bail" the single-Judge stated while rejecting the petition. .The accused was charged for offences punishable under Sections 364-A, (kidnapping for ransom) 368 (wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement) read with Section 34 (acts done with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66E (punishment for violation of privacy) of the Information Technology Act. .The wife of the victim in her complaint stated that one day when her husband came home, she noticed that he had been beaten up. Three days later, her sister-in-law told her that her husband had been physically assaulted and nude photographs of him had been taken, which had been circulated online. She showed the photos to his wife, whereupon she lodged a complaint. The accused had allegedly committed these acts to collect a loan amount of ₹2 lakh from the victim. Advocate S Balakrishnan, appearing for the accused-petitioner, contended that an offence punishable under Section 364-A of IPC cannot be attracted since the act alleged does not satisfy the ingredients of the said offence. It was also claimed that there are no any criminal antecedents against the petitioner and the petitioner is ready to comply with any bail condition and co-operate with the investigating officer for further investigation..Advocate Mohammed Mujasim, who represented the complainant, filed a memo with a copy of the nude photographs taken of the victim, a video which had been taken of the assault, along with newspaper articles regarding the attempt at extortion of the victim. The High Court Government Pleader RD Renukaradhya appearing for the State, said that the photographs clearly disclosed that the victim was subjected to assault and the victim's statement before the police was very clear and the matter is under investigation. Hence, he contended that taking into note of the gravity of the offences and seriousness of the allegations made in the complaint, it would not be a fit case to grant bail to the petitioner. The Court agreed with the State and the complainant, and refused to grant relief..[Read Order]