Bhandarkar raped me, cries model

A thirty-year-old model, struggling for a break in Bollywood, has filed a complaint of rape against Chandni Bar director Madhur Bhandarkar (...

A thirty-year-old model, struggling for a break in Bollywood, has filed a complaint of rape against Chandni Bar director Madhur Bhandarkar (45).

In a dog-eat-dog industry where roles are secured on criteria other than merit and allegations flying thick and fast, rumour mills worked overtime as Bhandarkar was nowhere to be found. The Versova police, which has registered an offence under Section 376 and 502 (2) of the Indian Penal Code, for rape and threats with dire consequences, drew a blank at Bhandarkar’s Versova residence as well as office.

Though the charges against Bhandarkar are non-bailable, sources close to the director say he will apply for anticipatory bail on Friday. ‘‘We have registered a case according to her complaint and I cannot comment as investigations are underway,’’ was all DCP Bipin Kumar Singh would say. In her complaint, the woman states that she had obliged the director with sexual favours between 2001 and 2003 in the hope of securing film roles.

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Her hopes were further fuelled when Bhandarkar was making the box-office hit Chandni Bar in 2002 but was devastated when the lead role went to actress Tabu. The sexual favours continued even after that, since Bhandarkar held out promises of roles in upcoming movies, Aan and Page Three, she alleges.

The complainant states that when none of the promises materialised, she told Bhandarkar in December 2003 that she wanted to sever contact with him. That’s when the alleged threats to her life began, according to the complaint.

So she succumbed, she states, till recently, when a friend urged her to approach the police. ‘‘We have registered a case and the matter is now sub-judice,’’ the victim’s friend told The Indian Express.

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