NEW DELHI – A Delhi court has put television actor Ashish Kapoor in jail for 14 days. He is known for his appearances in programs like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Saraswatichandra. The actor was detained in Pune last week after avoiding police for more than three weeks in a case of alleged group rape and assault.
A 24-year-old professional from Gurugram submitted a complaint saying that the event happened during a home party in Delhi’s Civil Lines on August 10. The woman said that Kapoor and his companion dragged her into a bathroom, where they raped her and recorded it. She also said that another woman at the party hit her and told her that the video would be leaked if she went to the police. On August 11, a FIR was filed that named Kapoor and others, with Kapoor being called the “primary perpetrator.”
The police reported that the 40-year-old actor was able to avoid being arrested for three weeks. He was first tracked down in Goa, but he later relocated to Pune, where he was finally caught at a friend’s house on Tuesday.
During the court hearing, investigators told the court that a very important aspect of the investigation is still going on: getting back the cell phones of the claimed victim and the accused. The person who filed the complaint says that her phone was taken following the attack. Police said that technical examination suggests the phone was last used in the Civil Lines area, where the party was held. They have looked in Kapoor’s house and his family’s restaurant, but they haven’t found the device yet. The cops have also said that Kapoor had a medical potency test at AIIMS and that the results are still pending.
There have also been reports that the person who complained changed her original statement to the court. At first, the FIR identified a lot of people, but she then changed the claim to rape by Kapoor alone and dropped the charges against the other persons. The victim told the authorities that Kapoor had raped her while other others watched. Later, there was a fight, and a woman allegedly hit her. Kapoor then took her home and allegedly threatened to publish the footage. The police are still looking into the case, taking into account the variations in her statement.