Ahmedabad, Jan 5 (IANS): The Gujarat High Court rejected a father's bail application in a molestation case and observed, "Earlier we were saying girls are not safe in the society, now the time has come when girls are not safe at home, it shows that the society's moral values are lowering day by day."

In a recent order, the single bench Justice Samir Dave also quoted from Manusmriti and Padma Purana while rejecting Fakir Mohammad Hussain Sumbhaniya's bail plea. The court noted there was no reason to believe that the accused was not guilty in the offence committed by him and in future will not commit again.

The allegation against the bail applicant is that he had molested his 12-year-old daughter. IPC section for explicit sexual overtures and sections of POCSO Act were invoked.

While rejecting the bail, the court noted Manusmruti slokas, "An Acharya is greater than ten Upadhyayas, a father is greater than 100 acharyas," and he also quoted Padma Puran shloka, "My father is my Dharma, my father is my heaven, he is the ultimate penance of my life."

The court noted in the order, the victim had told the police, "25 days ago, her father had tied her hands, a piece of cloth was stuffed in her mouth and he molested her."

According to the police records, the accused father in presence of other family members had told that he wanted to marry his 12-year-old daughter.