Kerala High Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam dubbing artiste Bhagyalakshmi and activists Diya Sana and Sreelakshmi Arackal, in the case pertaining to the assault of YouTuber Vijay P Nair, who posted offensive videos abusing women. The women had confronted the man on September 26 for posting a derogatory video abusing women, stating that there has been no action against the multiple complaints they had filed with police.
As per Live Law, the single bench of Justice Ashok Menon, who granted the pre-arrest bail to the women, stated that they should be granted bail if the arrest is recorded after collecting all required sureties
On October 23, the court had provided interim protection for the women from arrest. Thampanoor police in Thiruvananthapuram had booked the three women on the complaint of Vijay P Nair, who was also arrested following the confrontation. The women were booked on charges of trespassing, criminal intimidation, and robbery.
Considering the anticipatory bail plea, the court had also observed earlier that vigilantism cannot be encouraged. The public prosecutor for the government had also earlier opposed the bail plea, stating that it would set a wrong precedence if they are granted bail and that no one should take the law into their own hands. Notably, the court had also observed that the women might have done the act as they probably did not have faith in the police.
The video, titled ‘Why do feminists in India, especially Kerala, not wear underwear’ and posted by Vijay P Nair, was taken down after the women confronted the man. They poured ink on him and slapped him. The incident was recorded live by one of the women, and it was following this that police took action against the man for the abusive video.
Following the incident, Bhagyalakshmi and the two other activists had come out stating that they had been filing complaints regarding the video to various police stations and even state police chief, but no action was initiated.
When the pre-arrest bail plea was filed, Vijay P Nair had also moved the High Court, stating that he should be heard before granting the women bail.
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