Ex-Bigg Boss contestant gets reprieve from arrest till Mar 20

Former 'Bigg Boss' contestant Swami Om, who along with his associate is accused of molesting and threatening a woman, was today granted interim protection from arrest till March 20 by a Delhi court.
Special Judge Hemani Malhotra extended the relief granted to the accused after the Delhi Police failed to file before it the video footage of CCTV installed in DCP office at Daryaganj here as Swami Om has claimed that on the day of alleged incident, he had gone there to meet senior police personnel seeking security.
Police submitted before the court that it stores video footage of past 15 days in its record and as the accused claimed to have visited the DCP office on February 7, it was not found in record and it has to retrieve the data.

The court granted six-day time to police to retrieve the footage. It directed that the footage be submitted on March 20 and till then the accused should not be arrested.
The court was hearing an anticipatory bail plea of Swami Om who has alleged that he was falsely implicated in the case as he has been advocating Indian culture and anti-social elements wanted to stop his "social activity".
Advocate A P Singh, who has filed the plea, argued that there was no possibility of the accused tampering with evidence if granted anticipatory bail and he will not misuse his liberty.

Denying the allegations against him, the accused said that on February 7 when the alleged incident took place, he spent his day in different offices of Delhi Police seeking security.

He also alleged that he was being harassed by police officials and he apprehends that he could be arrested.
He claimed he has no link with co-accused Swami Santosh Anand, who was earlier denied anticipatory bail by the court.
As per the FIR lodged at IP Estate police station, the woman was allegedly wrongfully restrained by Swami Om and Anand when she was going home and they started abusing her and committed objectionable acts.

When the complainant requested them to leave her, they dragged her into their room and attempted to rape her, the FIR said. They also threatened that they will not spare her and that they had already ruined her husband's life, it said.
The woman had claimed in her complaint that Swami Om and Anand had ripped off her clothes on February 7. The victim alleged that they had attempted to humiliate her in full public view a few days earlier in Rajghat area here. No arrest has been made in the case.
The court had earlier denied anticipatory bail to Anand saying the allegations against him were grave and the probe was at a nascent stage.