After 2 yrs, city surgeon gets bail in child abuse case

Guwahati: Gauhati high court has granted bail to gastrointestinal and advanced general surgeon Walliul Islam, who was arrested on May 5, 2023, in connection with a child abuse case.

Islam had been in jail for 2 years and 5 months.

Islam’s bail petition, initially rejected by a lower court in May, was moved before the high court earlier this year.Islam’s counsel, advocate Z Kamar, said the bail was granted by the court on certain grounds, including that the accused spent more than 2 years in jail and only 13 out of 68 witnesses have been examined to date.Islam was arrested under the charges of attempt to murder (307), voluntarily causing grievous hurt (325), wrongful restraint (341), and acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention (34) under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Section 75 (Punishment for cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and penetrative sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), 2012.His wife, city-based psychologist Sangeeta Dutta, was also arrested in the same case on May 6, 2023. Her bail petition is still pending before the court. The doctor couple allegedly abused their 3-year-old adopted daughter. The girl child was rescued from the residence of the couple in Guwahati by the police on the evening of May 5 after receiving a complaint that she was tied to a pole on the terrace in scorching heat.Police said medical reports revealed many worrying injury marks on her body parts, including private parts, and reports establish the crime of sexual offence also.