A judge in Ireland has lifted the ban on naming an Indian man accused of attempted abduction of a minor. Last Saturday, Visak Rajesh Leela was arrested after being seen entering a Dublin apartment building with a five-year-old “under his arm.”
Leela, 25, who was reportedly too drunk to be interviewed following his arrest, denied the allegations against him before the court, explaining he had no bad intentions.
“I was not taking the child anywhere. I’m not a person like that. I do not have any intention with a child. I do not have any bad or unwanted intentions with a child,” said Leela.
Despite his claims, CCTV evidence revealed that Leela spoke with the boy and his 10-year-old sister outside a building before going inside with the boy “under his arm.” Shortly after, the children emerged from the building, the man left, and they returned inside.
The man, who is allegedly completing a postgraduate degree in Ireland, did not have any connection to the area where the apartment building was and lived nowhere nearby. Why he was in the area is still unclear.
Under the police’s advice, the judge had originally ordered that the man not be named in the media due to the “sensitivity of the case and in the current climate” and to avoid leaking the identity of the child involved. However, during the proceedings continued at Cloverhill District Court this week, Judge Mitchell lifted the name ban.
Speaking with various news outlets, John Freeman, an attorney, explained that the original name ban was misguided because the Children’s Act already guarantees a child’s anonymity in a legal case.
Detective Sergeant Basil Grimes explained that the initial Garda application on Monday was based on a concern that the injured party would be inadvertently identified. However, he added, “We have received all the information and that is not the case.”
During proceedings, Leela’s attorney, Michael Kelleher, requested that the Indian national’s address not be published “due to the current climate fueled by social media.” He also argued that his client should be allowed bail, expressing his belief that it’s “a lazy presumption that foreigners [are] flight risks.”
However, Judge Mitchell maintained his belief that Visak, who has no criminal history, was a flight risk and denied him bail.
Leela is currently in custody and will appear before the court again next month. Although he is facing up to seven years in prison, Kelleher contended that individuals facing lengthier sentences for other crimes are often granted bail.
