MUMBAI: A prominent veteran Bollywood star has alleged that she was raped by a Mumbai-based businessman. She had complained last month that he was stalking her. She filed a complaint at the Juhu Police Station in Mumbai that he raped her.
The businessman was arrested by the police on Thursday night and was sent to police remand till 28 March by Mumbai's Esplanade Court.
The iconic actress had also complained last month that the businessman was stalking and threatening her. She had at the time also alleged that he was sending her lewd messages on WhatsApp and had entered her house after beating up her security guard.
The case was transferred to the crime branch of the Mumbai Police. Police have registered the case against the businessman under Sections 376, 420, 465, 467, 468, 469, 471 and 504 of the IPC.
This is the latest case of sexual assault or harassment that has turned up in Bollywood circles.
Recently, veteran actor Jeetendra had been accused by his cousin of sexual assault when he was 25 years old.
While these are outright allegations of molestation and sexual assault, there have been a number of other accusations of sexual harassment by prominent Bollywood faces like Richa Chadda, Kalki Koechlin and Daisy Irani, to name a few.
These claims of sexual harassment by leading names in the film industry have come more or less in conjunction with the global #MeToo movement that was sparked by Hollywood star Rose McGowan.
The movement had also taken off on the parallel name-and-shame campaign by foreign affairs scholar Christine Fair against members of the academia who had sexually harassed her. This had been met with a similar response within Indian academia, with an anonymous crowd-sourced list of abusers in the Indian higher education setup.