Indore (Madhya Pradesh): After being thrashed by a mob and then spending 107 days behind bars, bangle seller Taslim Ali on Tuesday got bail from Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court in an alleged sexual harassment case.
Ali was arrested on August 23 for allegedly sexually harassing a 13-year-old girl and using forgery to conceal his identity.
He was granted bail by Justice Sujoy Paul on bond of Rs 50,000.
"The court's bail order has once again proved that the Constitution is supreme in the country. It’s a victory of Constitution," Ali's lawyer Ehtesham Hashmi told reporters.
Hashmi claimed that the case against Ali was politically motivated. “The attitude of the state government in the matter was a little harsh,” he said adding that the bail was delayed purportedly as police did not present the case diary in the HC on time.
A video showing some persons thrashing Ali (25), a bangle seller hailing from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, in Govind Nagar area had gone viral on August 22.
Following outrage over the incident, Banganga police had registered a case against four individuals who could be seen beating him up in the video. Shortly after the case was lodged, a complaint of sexual harassment was lodged against Ali on behalf of the minor daughter of one of the four accused.
As per the FIR, Ali went to the girl's house to sell bangles and identified himself as ‘Golu' before allegedly touching her inappropriately.
Police also found that Ali was allegedly using a fake name while selling bangles to women in the locality. Two Aadhaar cards bearing two different names were also found with him.
On August 31, the district court had rejected Ali's bail application following which he moved high court.
