[POCSO Case] Television actor Pearl V Puri granted bail by Vasai Court

A Vasai Sessions Court has granted bail to television actor Pearl V Puri, who was charged with rape of a co-five-year-old star's daughter under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Waliv police detained Puri on June 4, 2021, and he was put in judicial prison the next day. The case's complainant is the minor's father. The youngster is said to have been raped in September 2019 while filming the show Bepanha Pyaar. 

Puri has been charged under the Indian Penal Code's Section 376 AB (punishment for rape of a woman under the age of 12), as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act 2012's Sections 4 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault), 8 (punishment for sexual assault), 12 (punishment for sexual harassment), 19 (reporting of offences), and 21 (punishment for failure to report or record a case). 

The case against Pearl was bogus, according to the co-extended star's mother's family, and her estranged husband intended to utilise this case to acquire custody of the kid. 

"On Monday, June 7, 2021, his bail application was filed and heard. The prosecution requested more time to respond to our arguments. The court then postponed the plea for orders, and today, Sessions judge Aditi Kadam granted him bail ", Rajeev Sawant, his lawyer, told Live Law about the case.

The case was initially filed against unknown people, according to Sawant, but eight days later, the father claimed that the child had taken the name Raghubir, Pearl's role in the series. "It was their case that the girl claimed Raghubir bhaiya inappropriately touched her." He did say, however, that the defence, led by Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda, noted an ongoing conflict between the parents, with court cases pending in multiple jurisdictions.

"The prosecution supplied certain medical reports," Sawant continued, "but the mother had just gotten the child tested a few days beforehand when the kid complained of gastrointestinal pain", Puri claimed in his bail plea that the youngster was taken for a medical examination late and that he was arrested just to smear his name. 

The prosecution, on the other hand, objected to the plea, claiming that a medical report from Nair Hospital revealed a hymen rupture and previously healed lesions. They went on to say that Puri is a powerful figure. The copy of the bail order is being awaited. Badatameez Dil, Nagarjuna, Bepanah Pyaarr, Naagin 3 and Meri Sasu Maa are among the shows in which Pearl has appeared.