Manipur Violence: Karnataka High Court grants anticipatory bail to man who shared WhatsApp image of half-naked woman draped in tricolour

The Karnataka High Court recently granted anticipatory bail to a man accused of sharing on a WhatsApp group, an image of a half-naked woman draped in the tricolour to depict the recent sexual violence that occurred in Manipur [Sabu Husen v. State of Karnataka].Justice Vishwajith Shetty of the High Court's Dharwad Bench noted that the accused had merely forwarded the message without any intention to commit an offence.The single-judge also said that the accused had no criminal antecedents and that the maximum imprisonment for the offence was three years..A crime under Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act was registered against the petitioner following a complaint.After his application for anticipatory bail was rejected by a sessions court on September 19, 2023, he moved the High CourtAdvocate Maqboolahmed M Patil for the petitioner informed the Court that the petitioner had no intention to commit any offence and had merely forwarded a message he received on a WhatsApp group. .On the other hand, the State opposed the application. Government Pleader Rangswamy R told the Court that the image depicted the incident of sexual violence in Manipur last year and showed a half-naked woman covered in the tricolour. .The Court, however, said that the prayer for anticipatory bail was required to be answered in the affirmative.Accordingly, it allowed the plea on the conditions that the petitioner executes a personal bond for ₹1,00,000 with one surety for the like sum. The Court also directed that the accused should cooperate with the investigation, appear before the trial court without fail unless exempted by the trial court and he should not tamper with evidence..In July 2023, a horrific video of two women being paraded naked and molested in the wake of the Manipur violence had gone viral on social media.According to Mint, the incident happened on May 4, 2023 and the women were later gang-raped by the mob.The Central government later ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the issue.The Supreme Court also registered a suo motu case after the video of the incident went viral on social media..[Read Order]