Bihar Rape: #FreeTanmay Trends Condemning Social Workers’ Arrest

While the court granted bail to the 22-year-old rape survivor, it denied the same to the two social workers.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Lawyers, social activists and people on Twitter from across the country on Friday, 24 July, condemned the arrest of an alleged gang-rape survivor in Bihar’s Araria and two social workers, who were booked for “obstructing government servants from discharging their duty,” among other charges.

While the court granted bail to the 22-year-old rape survivor, it denied the same to the two social workers – Tanmay and Kalyani – who were also arrested along with her.

Prominent social activists like Harsh Mander and Yogendra Yadav tweeted that the arrest of the activists raised questions about “what justice looked like in Bihar.”

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter Screengrab)

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter Screengrab)

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter Screengrab)

‘What Precedent Does This Set?’

The complainant, at the Araria women’s police station, had alleged that she was gang-raped on 6 July after which an FIR was registered.

The rape survivor was asked to record her statement before a magistrate, for which, as per the police, she appeared with two social workers from NGO Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan.

The FIR reads, “While recording their statement, the accused trio insulted the presiding officer by misbehaving with him and tried to obstruct the proceedings of the court. The survivor refused to sign the written statement saying that she would not sign until Kalyani and Tanmay have read it,” ThePrint’s report added.

People on Twitter also questioned the precedent the arrests set and pointed that survivors may “hesitate” to come forward with their case.

A number of senior advocates, including Indira Jaising, Prashant Bhushan and others had written to the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, recognising the need to “infuse the incident with some sensitivity” by taking the survivor’s fragile condition into consideration.