Ranchi court orders 19-year-old girl to distribute five copies of Quran for sharing communal post on Facebook

As punishment for sharing a communal post on Facebook, a 19-year-old girl was on Tuesday asked to distribute five copies of Quran by a Ranchi court.

As punishment for sharing a communal post on Facebook, a 19-year-old girl was on Tuesday asked to distribute five copies of Quran by a Ranchi court.

Judicial Magistrate Manish Kumar directed Richa Bharti to donate a copy of the holy book to Anjuman Islamia Committee and rest four to the libraries of different schools and colleges, reported India Today.

Times of India quoted Bharti’s lawyer Ram Pravesh Singh who said, “The court has given conditional bail stating that the girl will gift one copy to Anjuman Islamia in the presence of the administration and take a receipt. She would distribute four texts of the Quran to various libraries through the local police station. She has to submit the five receipts before the court within 15 days.”

A case was registered in Pithoria police station when the girl shared a message on Facebook which allegedly had communal content. Subsequently, the police arrested her and put her behind bars.

This led to several Hindu organisations staging protests, demanding her release as her arrest drew sharp criticism from the locals.

It was only after rural SP Ashutosh Sekhar’s assured the locals that the accused would be released soon did the agitation come to a halt.