While a local court on Wednesday relieved 19-year-old Richa Bharti from the condition of distributing copies of Holy Quran in order to be out on bail, her family’s struggle to deal with the unwanted attention and threats continues. A day after the Ranchi court’s decision of revising her conditional bail, Richa’s father, Prakash Patel sounded evidently anxious and concerned about the teenager’s safety.
“I am a middleclass man with limited resources. All this attention is overwhelming. For now, my only concern is my daughter’s safety,” said Patel, who met the members of Jharkhand State Women’s Commission recently and sought security for Richa.
Richa, a B.Com (Hons) student, became a popular figure overnight after police arrested her from her residence on July 12 on charges of sharing objectionable posts on social networking platform, Facebook. Within hours since her arrest, she was sent to the Birsa Munda Jail, where she had to spend at least two days and two nights. She hogged the attention of media, rightwing groups, political parties and social activists soon after a Ranchi district court on July 15 granted her bail on the condition that she would distribute at least five copies of Holy Quran, one at the local Anjuman Committee and four at different libraries. The court order triggered widespread protests by rightwing organisations and even the Ranchi District Bar Association.
Now, her family is not only dealing with hate messages and threats online, but is also faced against rumours spreading like wild fire. “Today, a vernacular daily wrote that Richa had an argument with one of her Muslim friends on Facebook, which triggered the entire row. Some people are trying to give this matter a communal colour. I beg people not to make it a Hindu versus Muslim issue,” said Patel.
Patel added that he could not ensure security for Richa in his personal capacity; however, he will seek help from Government bodies and law enforcement agencies. On Thursday, a few police personnel from Pithoria Police Station were deployed outside Richa’s house. “Today, a few policemen have been deployed here. But I don’t know for how long they will be here,” Patel said.
Police on Wednesday lodged an FIR against one Abazi Azmi Wasim Khan with the Pithoria Police Station in Ranchi on charges of issuing rape threats to Richa on social networking website, Facebook. The accused, however, is absconding. Meanwhile, Richa’s social media accounts have been flooded with hate messages and threats from several unidentified accounts. “Richa has to go to college and focus on her studies. I know it is not possible to get police protection 24x7. But all I want is her to be safe,” said Patel.
Patel, a local contractor, also raised concern over the sudden rise in fake social media profiles run by the name of Richa Bharti. “I got to know that hundreds of fake profiles by the name of Richa Bharti have suddenly become active on social media platforms. It is worrying me. I don’t want my daughter to be in trouble for any content posted by these fake profiles,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ranchi District Bar Association on Thursday decided to call off their boycott of the court of Justice Manish Kumar Singh, which had directed Richa to distribute Quran.
