Patna, Nov. 27: Even after “assaulting” a girl in full public glare, the three Patna boys — Ashutosh Kumar, Chandan Kumar and Ashish — were released on bail the same evening. They walked free after signing a personal bail bond worth Rs 5,000 each.

The incident had taken place on Saturday afternoon near Hartali Chowk. The girl, who was waiting to board an autorickshaw, was “beaten up” by her classmate, Ashish, and two of his friends. While Ashutosh and Chandan were apprehended by the quick mobile service team from the spot, Ashish was nabbed later.

“Granting bail is a legal issue and had the police lodged the case under different sections, the boys would have landed in jail,” a Patna high court lawyer, preferring anonymity, told The Telegraph.

He said that in Saturday’s incident, cases were lodged under sections 354 (use of force against women with intent to outrage modesty) and 504 (intentional insult) of Indian Penal Code and hence the three boys got the bail.

The police are now projecting the case in such a way which might put the victim in the dock instead of her “assaulters”.

Sachivalaya police station house officer Deonarayan Mahto said: “We have come to know that the girl and Ashish knew each other for the past six months. The girl also used to visit Ashish’s house after the two became friends while studying at a computer training centre.”

The officer, however, had nothing so say when asked whether the proximity gave licence to Ashish to assault the girl. “No comments,” he said.

The police’s angle to the case is not surprising. Ashish is the son of a senior government official and the police bosses started getting phone calls as soon as the boys were brought to the police station.

Taking strong exception to the development in the case, Padamlata Thakur, head of department, women’s studies, Patna University, told The Telegraph that stronger laws are required to curb such type of incidents.

Thakur said: “It is generally seen that persons involved in such incidents get bail easily.”

Thakur said while on one hand, the government talks about women empowerment, on the other hand, there is no check to such incidents of eve-teasing.

The teacher said just last week, a girl student at Darbhanga House was threatened and her chain was looted. Moreover, eve-teasing at college institutions are regular but girls are afraid of reporting the incidents as they know that the final outcome in such incidents will not be in their favour, she added.