Court relief for woman who gave shelter to friend during lockdown

Mumbai: Observing that she had to pay a "hefty price for being a friend", the Bombay High Court granted pre-arrest relief to a Kolhapur woman, who has been accused of robbing the gold ornaments worth Rs 1.5 lakh of her childhood friend.

A bench of Justice Bharati Dangre was seized with an anticipatory bail plea filed by Nirmala Vispute (changed name) booked for robbery on a complaint filed by her childhood best friend Ujwala Supe (changed name).

According to the complaint filed by Supe, she had filed a domestic violence case against her husband and left her matrimonial house. She left the house just when the nation-wide lockdown was declared.

Left with no shelter on her head, Supe contacted Vispute, who happened to live in the same locality at Kolhapur. She was accordingly given shelter by Vispute.

Supe lived for nearly three months in Vispute's house - the period of lockdown. And during this period, Supe had handed over her ornaments to Vispute.

Soon after the lockdown was eased to some extent, Supe obtained an e-pass to travel back to her parental home in Solapur. Before leaving for Solapur, Vispute claimed to have handed back her friend's ornaments to her.

However, after reaching Solapur and being quarantined in a municipal school by authorities there, Supe noticed that the ornaments were not there in her bag. She accordingly phone called the local police and lodged a robbery case against Vispute.

Accordingly, Vispute petitioned Justice Dangre seeking protection from arrest.

Having considered the facts of the case, Justice Dangre said, "The applicant (Vispute) before this Court, seeking pre-arrest bail had to pay a hefty price for her good gesture towards friendship. In the difficult situations, Supe remembered her childhood friend - the applicant, who offered her shelter in her house for almost two months during the period of lockdown."

"Surprisingly, it is the applicant who gave shelter to Supe, came to be arraigned as accused and alleged of committing theft of the ornaments of her own friend," the judge added.

The court further noted that Supe had travelled in a private car and was put in a quarantine centre when she reached Solapur and it then dawned upon her that her ornaments have been stolen.

"The journey, the quarantine centre can be all possible places where she must have lost her treasure. The applicant cannot be conclusively held to be responsible for the theft," Justice Dangre opined.

"If at all she wanted to grab the ornaments of her friend, she could not have waited for three months," the court held.

source https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/court-relief-for-woman-who-gave-shelter-to-friend-during-lockdown