Woman told to distribute Quran over offensive post; says will move HC

RANCHI: A 19-year-old woman, who was recently arrested for sharing an offensive social media post targeting Muslims, has been granted bail by a local court here on the condition that she donate five copies of Quran to separate institutions in the city.

She has also been asked to submit the receipt of distributed copies to the court in 15 days.

Ranchi, July 16

A 19-year-old woman, who was recently arrested for sharing an offensive social media post targeting Muslims, has been granted bail by a local court here on the condition that she donate five copies of Quran to separate institutions in the city.

The court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Manish Kumar Singh, after granting the conditional bail on Monday, asked Richa Bharti to submit one copy of the holy book to the local Anjuman Committee in the presence of police authorities, and four more copies to different libraries in the city, her advocate Rampravesh Singh told PTI.

The magistrate has also sought the receipt or the acknowledgment of the donation within a fortnight, he said.

Md Jamil Khan, a member of the Anjuman Committee, said it has welcomed the court verdict.

“The committee, which looks after the health, education and welfare of the local people, has accepted the verdict whole-heartedly. The woman has been asked to donate copies of the Quran to the committee as well as school and college libraries,” he said.

Superintendent of Police (rural) Asutosh Sekhar, when contacted, said the officers were studying the court order to understand the stipulations.

Bharti, a B.Com student at a local college, was arrested on July 12 after the Anjuman Committee filed a complaint against her at Pithora Police Station for sharing an objectionable post on Facebook, which reportedly hurt religious sentiments.

Stating that she is unhappy over the directive, Bharti said she would move the High Court.

“I have only shared the Facebook post. The person who posted it should have been arrested first. I will appeal against the court order in the High Court. Today I have been asked to distribute Quran and tomorrow I may be asked to accept Islam,” Richa told reporters.

“We moved a petition in the court praying for bail. Yesterday, we got conditional bail with the ruling that she should donate one copy of the Quran Sharif to Anjuman Committee at Pithoria and four more to different libraries in the city,” the girl’s counsel said.

The judge has also directed the investigating officer in the case to be present when Bharti donates the holy book to the committee, he added.

Bharti’s parents, Prakash and Nilam Devi, said they were happy to have their daughter back. — PTI/IANS