Assaulted Army Officer’s Female Friend Gets Bail From Orissa High Court

A single-judge bench of Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra granted bail to the victim and ordered the lower court in Bhubaneswar to impose the bail conditions as per the law.

Cuttack (Odisha): The Orissa High Court on Wednesday granted bail to the female friend of an Army officer, who was allegedly assaulted and molested in
custody by the Bhubaneswar police and subsequently arrested on Sunday. A single-judge bench of Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra granted bail to the victim and ordered the lower court in Bhubaneswar to impose the bail conditions as per the law.

The Army officer and his friend had approached the Bhartpur police station early on Sunday morning to report a case of road rage in which they had alleged that they were harassed by a group of local youths. But the police, instead of redressing their grievances, had detained the Army officer for over 10 hours and had booked his friend. Alleging custodial torture, the victim had approached the High Court seeking bail.

Allowing the bail petition of the victim the High Court directed the Odisha police to conduct an impartial enquiry into the case and warned the police not to harass the serving Army officers in custody.

Posting the matter to be heard again on September 26, the Odisha High Court also directed the Odisha government to provide better treatment facilities to the victim. It may be mentioned here that the Odisha government has initiated action against five police personnel, including three woman cops involved in this case and entrusted the matter to be investigated by the elite crime branch cops of the state.