Thrashed MP bangle seller gets bail after 3 months

After spending over three months in jail, bangle seller Taslim Ali, who was beaten up by some people here for allegedly using a fake name, got bail from the Madhya Pradesh high court in a 'sexual harassment' case on Tuesday.

Ali was arrested on the charges of sexually harassing a 13-year-old girl in August this year, following the incident of thrashing.

Justice Sujoy Paul of the Indore bench of the high court granted bail to him on Tuesday.

'The nature of accusation is not such, which leads to a conclusion that the applicant should remain in custody till the decision of the matter. No criminal antecedents of the applicant could be shown to the court,' the order said.

'Considering the nature of accusation and in absence of any criminal record, I deemed it proper to enlarge the application on bail. Accordingly, the bail application is allowed,' the judge added.

The HC ordered Ali to furnish a personal bond in the sum of Rs 50,000 with one local surety of the like amount.

The applicant will attend each hearing of the case and any default will result in cancellation of bail, it said.

Ali's lawyer Ehtesham Hashmi told reporters, "The high court's bail order has once again proved that the Constitution is supreme in the country. This is a victory of the Constitution."

The case against Ali was politically motivated, advocate Hashmi alleged, adding that the attitude of the state government in the matter was "little harsh", and the bail was delayed as police did not present the case diary in the HC on time.

On August 31, the district court had rejected Ali's bail application following which he moved the high court.

The incident had caused an uproar after a video showing some persons thrashing Ali, 25, a bangle seller hailing from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, in Govind Nagar area of Indore on August 22 went viral.

The assailants alleged that Ali was using a fake name while selling bangles to women in the locality.

On the next day of the incident, a first information report (FIR) was registered at Banganga police station against Ali on the complaint of a 13-year-old girl.

As per the FIR, Ali went to the girl's house to sell bangles and identified himself as 'Golu' before allegedly touching her inappropriately.

Four people allegedly involved in thrashing him were also arrested in a case of assault.

As per Ali's complaint, they asked for his name and started beating him on hearing his reply.