Ranchi

RANCHI : A city court order granting bail to a 19-year-old on the condition that she will have to distribute five copies of the Quran sparked a row on Tuesday with the teenager saying she would file an appeal and several BJP leaders visiting her house to express solidarity with her. Richa Bharti was arrested on Saturday for an ‘offensive’ post and released on bail on Monday.  

Following a complaint by local residents, alleging that Bharti had shared an offensive post against Muslims, she was arrested. While granting her bail, the court of judicial magistrate (first class) Manish Kumar Singh had asked her to distribute five copies of the Quran — one to the Sadar Anjuman Islamia Committee and the other four to libraries.  

According to the court order, Bharti was supposed to give a copy to the committee by Tuesday evening.  

Bharti, however, didn’t comply, stating that she was yet to get a copy of the judgment. “While I respect the court’s order, I will file an appeal in the high court as I believe that the right thing has not been done. Without going into specifics, I want to ask that while others may have posted many other things in the past, has anyone been asked to distribute the Bible or the Bhagwad Gita, or visit a temple,” she said.  

Her father Prakash Patel said they had faith in the judiciary and would explore all legal options available to them.  

“We are contemplating filing an appeal against the lower court order once we get a copy of the judgment,” he said. Bharti’s lawyers said they couldn’t procure a copy from the court till Tuesday evening.