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‘Conditional’ bail for accused in rape case

CUTTACK: ‘Marriages are made in heaven’… goes the adage, but a few end up in hell. In cases of unhappy marriages, the new mantra is to call it ‘quit’ and celebrate. While instead of staying trapped in unsuccessful marriages, many now prefer to untie the knot and enjoy freedom, a rape accused here is given an option to enjoy the freedom only if he marries the rape victim.

Maheswar Naik, a 30-year-old accused person in a rape case in Jaripada village in Tangi area of the district was released on bail on Thursday with a condition that if he wants to stay away from jail, he had to marry the girl he allegedly raped nine months ago. The Orissa High Court had granted an interim bail of two months to Maheswar earlier this week asking him in no uncertain terms to either languish in jail without bail or marry the victim and enjoy the freedom.

Maheswar was lodged in jail for past few months on the charge of raping a girl of his own village. The victim, who is now in an advance stage of pregnancy, alleged that Maheswar had developed intimacy with her after promising to marry her. But when the girl conceived, Maheswar allegedly broke his promise. Taking up his bail application, wherein the accused had indicated his willingness to marry the victim, the single judge bench of Justice Laxmikanta Mohapatra granted the interim conditional bail for two months to facilitate the marriage. Permanent bail would be allowed only if the accused tie the knot to the victim within the period, the HC said.

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