The Kerala High Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to the wedding make-up artist accused of sexually abusing multiple women while pretending to do their make-up in the case of Anez Anzare v. the State of Kerala.
Anez was granted anticipatory bail by Justice Gopinath P, who determined that a custodial inquiry was not required to examine the charges filed against him. Aznar was released on bail subjected to certain restrictions.
“In addition, taking into consideration the charges leveled against the petitioner, I believe that the petitioner’s detention may not be essential to conduct a competent investigation into the complaints filed against him or her. Because of this, I believe that these bail petitions should be granted, “In its ruling, the Court said that.
The High Court granted Anzare anticipatory bail in four cases filed against him, alleging that he committed offenses under Sections 354 (intimidation or criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354-B (intimidation or criminal force against a woman with intent to disrobe), 354-A(1)(i) and 354-A (2) (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.
Three of the offenses were prosecuted as a result of complaints lodged by customers of the wedding makeup artist. The core of the charges was that when women went to Anez’s studio, he improperly handled them while pretending to do cosmetics, even going so far as to pull their underwear down.
Some have stated that he posed improper questions with sexual innuendo, both verbally and through text messages, and that this was unacceptable.
It was discovered that one of the crimes had been committed because of a complaint submitted by a lady who had been hired to work as an accountant at Anzare’s studio. He allegedly began grabbing and molesting her while pretending to be showing her all-around studio, according to the plaintiff.
Aznar’s attorney fiercely maintained that the claims were utterly unsubstantiated and fraudulent and that they had been brought forth to drive his clients out of business. He said that the accusations were filed at the direction of a woman named Priya, who had previously been affiliated with Anzare’s business.
Moreover, he indicated that the charges leveled against Aznar came to light shortly after an accusation of rape against tattoo artist PS Sujeesh was made public.
His contention is that because of the public attention the case received, Priya was inspired to launch a social media campaign against Aznar.
However, the prosecution disagreed with these assertions, claiming that the de facto complainants in the instances are unrelated to one another.
A foundation named M/s Jenika Charity Foundation, a registered trust that provides grass-root level service to survivors of violence, sexually assaulted women, and mentally and physically disabled people, was one of the cases considered by the Court. M/s Jenika Charity Foundation was one of the foundations that made submissions.
In its submission, the foundation said that Anzare’s method of operation was to sexually assault women who came in for bridal make-up on the day of their wedding so that they would not divulge the occurrence to anyone else or dare to file a complaint with the appropriate authorities.
The Court said that the charges leveled against Anzare are, without a doubt, grave in their nature. Among the crimes recorded against him in the four instances, it was observed in court that those under Sections 354 and 354B of the Indian Penal Code were non-bailable offenses.
According to the charges against Anzare in these incidents, the maximum punishment is imprisonment for a time that may extend to seven years. This is the maximum penalty.
According to the criteria for giving relief set by the Supreme Court in the case of Siddharth v. State of Uttar Pradesh, the Court determined that it was acceptable to grant anticipatory bail, subject to certain restrictions, in this instance.
Aznar was represented by attorneys S Rajeev, V Vineev, MS Aneer, Sarath KP, D Feroze, and CJ Jiyas, among others. The State was represented by MC Ashi, the Public Prosecutor.The allegations leveled against Aznar, as well as against tattoo artist Sujeesh before him, have re-ignited the debate about women’s safety in Kerala, particularly in places like tattoo studios and beauty parlors.
When an anonymous post on Reddit detailing the rape of a lady purportedly at the hands of Sujeesh got widespread attention across many social media sites, the floodgates to the charges were opened.
Other women shared their own horror stories, and multiple lawsuits were filed against the tattoo artist, accusing him of rape and sexual abuse, among other things. He was detained and held in detention for more than a month till he was recently released on bail by the Additional Sessions Court in Ernakulam, Kerala.
By that time, the charges leveled against Anez Aznar had also come to light.
Published By – Supreeti Ghosh
