Sex for favour: Actor gets bail, producer assaulted

BLOG BUREAU

Noted Marathi actor Ramesh Bhatkar secured bail on Wednesday hours after an aspiring actress accused him and film producer Ravi Naidu of attempted rape in a complaint filed with the Pune Police.

Bhatkar's co-accused Naidu was manhandled by activists of the Republican Party of India (RPI) when he reached the Pune sessions court in connection with the case. The girl's family had filed the complaint on Tuesday, naming Bhatkar, Naidu and a former city corporator in the case. The family alleged that the girl was raped repeatedly in the last year.

The uncle and aunt of the girl — Dilip and Jayashree — too have been named in the case as they were the ones who had allegedly introduced the aspiring actress to Naidu.

The court granted interim bail to all the five accused till January 6.

While Naidu is alleged to have repeatedly raped the 17-year-old victim over the past few months, Bhatkar has been accused of seeking sexual favours from her last August.

The girl, who was trying for a break in the Marathi film industry, claims in her complaint that Bhatkar sought sexual favours from her at various locations in August. The girl also claims that the actor had threatened her not to complain against him.

The girl has also accused him of physically assaulting her when she had resisted his sexual advances.

The Marathi Film Federation has, meanwhile, said it will launch an independent probe into the allegations.

According to the complaint, after the girl's SSE (10th Standard) examination, she was allegedly taken to Ravi Naidu's bungalow by her uncle and aunt with the assurance that Naidu would cast her in a Marathi movie. It was then that Naidu allegedly tried to rape her.

The police registered an FIR and have already detained three of the accused in the case. The girl has been sent for medical examination.