Taapsee Pannu and singer Sona Mohapatra condemn SC asking rape accused if he wants to marry minor survivor

New Delhi: Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu and singer Sona Mohapatra have strongly reacted to the Supreme Court's recent verdict on a rape case. The apex court on Monday asked the rape accused, who is a public servant, if he wanted to marry the victim, a minor. 

Taapsee and Sohna took to their social media handles and wrote: 

Did someone ask the girl this question ? If she wants to marry her rapist !!!??? Is that a question !!!??? This is the solution or a punishment ? Plain simple DISGUST ! https://t.co/oZABouXLUP — taapsee pannu (@taapsee) March 1, 2021

The court, however, was told on Monday that the accused is already married. 

According to PTI, a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde was hearing a plea filed by the accused who is serving as a technician in Maharashtra State Electricity Production Company Ltd and has moved the apex court against the Bombay High Court February 5 order which had cancelled the anticipatory bail granted to him in the case.

When the hearing commenced, the bench also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, asked the accused. Are you willing to marry her? If you are willing to marry her then we can consider it, otherwise, you will go to jail, observed the bench adding. We are not forcing you to marry.

After taking instructions on the query posed by the bench, the counsel appearing for the petitioner said the accused was initially willing to marry the girl but she had refused and now he was married to someone else.

As the counsel said that the accused is a public servant, the bench said, "You should have thought this before seducing and raping the girl. You knew that you are a government servant."

The counsel said that charges in the case are yet to be framed. "You apply for regular bail. We will stay arrest," the bench said. The apex court granted the accused protection from arrest for four weeks.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by the accused against the Bombay High Court's February 5 order cancelling the anticipatory bail granted to him by the trial court in January last year.

He has also been accused of offences punishable under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

In his plea filed in the top court, he has referred to the Maharashtra Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1979 and said it pointed out that if a government servant is detained in police custody under criminal charges for a period of 48 hours, then he shall be deemed to have been placed under suspension by an order of appointing authority. 

(With PTI inputs)