The Madhya Pradesh High Court here has granted bail to an old man, charged with sexually assaulting a minor girl, on medical grounds that he was devoid of penile erection and other facts.

A single bench of Justice MF Anwar on Tuesday observed, "Looking at the facts and circumstances of the case, the age of Dhaniram (68) and the period of detention, I am inclined to enlarge the applicant on bail.

"As per medical evidence observation, the applicant's penile erection was missing and he was not capable for semen slide," his counsels Vasant Daniel and Vishal Daniel told the court.

Dhaniram, who had been in judicial custody since November 6 last, was suffering from various diseases related to heart and prostates, they contended.

The applicant had served in the Navy and after retirement, worked as a teacher in the government school, the lawyers said.

The Navy and the principal of the school had issued certificates to the effect that he held a good moral character, they added.

The counsels claimed that the petitioner was falsely implicated by the father of the minor, while the prosecution opposed the bail application.

After hearing both sides, the court granted bail to the accused.

The accused was arrested under sections 363, 366-A, 376(A)(B), 376(2)(j)(k)(i) of the IPC and sections 3-A, 4, 5m, 6 of the POCSO Act. The case was registered at the Mungwani police station in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur district.

The allegation against the accused was that at around 8 pm on November 4 last year, he had lured the minor girl and took her to his house on the pretext of showing her sparkling lights and sexually assaulted her.

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