Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, Oct 27: The state high court has refused to entertain the request of a person to dismiss case filed against him under the provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) relating to posting of obscene comment by him on a photo of a girl from Vittal that had appeared in Facebook(FB).

A person named Balakrishnaraj Neerchal, currently residing at Bengaluru, had approached the high court seeking to dismiss invoking of provisions of POCSO by Vittal police against him relating to the said incident. The single bench of the high court, however, refused to uphold his request and dismissed his petition..

It is gathered that a person named Satyaram Hegadekatte from Sirsi had downloaded the picture of a girl from Vittal that had been uploaded to FB. He had then uploaded the photo in a FB friends group along with obscene comment. Balakrishna Neerchal had not only shared this picture, but also added sarcastic comment.

Parents of the girl, aggrieved by these action, had filed complaint in Vittal police station on April 13, 2015. The police had registered case against Balakrishna under POCSO and Indian Penal Code. They also arrested him when he visited his native place, Mani, and released him on bail. Balakrishna had questioned the action of Vittal police in booking him under stringent provisions of POCSO by arguing that his comment did not warrant booking him in this act. However, the high court has dismissed his application.

The police have learnt that the other accused in the case, Shantaram Hegadeiatte, currently lives in a foreign country.