Bangalore: A court in Bangalore on Monday is likely to decide on the bail application filed by French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, arrested on charges of raping his four-year old daughter.
The court held an in-camera hearing on the bail plea on July 16. During the 40-minute-long in-camera proceedings held by Fast Track Court Judge GR Patil, counsel for Pascal Mazurier, Deputy Head of Chancery in the Consulate of France in Bangalore, claimed diplomatic immunity for the accused, sources said.
Besides Pascal's counsel Mahesh, Public Prosecutor Ravindra, the Investigating Officer (IO) and the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Devaraj submitted their arguments during the proceedings.
Earlier, the Judge accepted a plea by the public prosecutor that as per the Supreme Court direction in case of sexual abuse of minors, proceedings should be conducted in-camera as the victim is a girl child.
The IO objected to granting bail to the accused putting forth three new grounds and further sought time till the police got their clarifications on the DNA test report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Bangalore.
The court also directed the police and the prosecution to submit the clarification report as early as possible.
On July 9, counsel for the accused had filed additional grounds in the bail application stating there was a "mismatch" between the samples of the accused and the victim as per the DNA test report which he produced before the court.
A magisterial court on July 3 had extended by 14 days the judicial custody of Mazurier, arrested on June 19 on the basis of a complaint filed by his Indian wife Suja Jones, a native of Kerala, alleging that he had raped their daughter.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
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