Mumbai: Director arrested for raping model after promising her to role in film

When the model refused to meet the accused, he allegedly sent a video to her husband. Representation pic

The Versova police yesterday arrested a film director on charges of sexually assaulting a 30-year-old actress and model under the pretext of offering her a role in the upcoming movie Son of Sardar Part 2. According to the police, the accused, Gunwant Tarachand Jain alias Nikesh Madhani, allegedly lured the model, promising to cast her as the sister of actor Ajay Devgn's character in the film.

During a supposed screen test and photo shoot, he allegedly gave her a cold drink spiked with intoxicants which rendered her unconscious. Madhani then allegedly raped her and recorded the act on his mobile phone, later allegedly threatening to make the video viral if she didn't continue to sleep with him.

The complainant said she was repeatedly sexually assaulted for several months. When she refused to meet him, the accused sent a video to her husband, which created a rift, eventually leading to their separation. The victim eventually filed a complaint, leading to the director's arrest. The complainant often invited as a guest to events and programmes, attended an event in March where Madhani was also present. However, there was no interaction between them at the time.

"A few days later, I received a message from Madhani on my Instagram. Introducing himself as a film producer, director and financier, he invited me to his office in Versova, claiming he could offer me work in films, advertisements, and modelling assignments," said the complainant.

"The accused set up a photo shoot at his house. He made me wear different outfits at the same time he recorded it all on his mobile phone. For the screen test, he filmed me drinking a cold drink which was spiked with intoxicant which caused me to fall unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I realised I wasn't wearing any clothes," said the victim.

"On questioning him, he initially claimed that I had fainted while changing outfits. However, suspecting something was amiss, I pressed him further and he confessed to what had happened," said the complainant.

"Each time, I pleaded with him to delete the video, but he refused. When I finally stood up to him, he sent the video to my husband, which caused a rift in our relationship. Now, my husband and I are living separately," said the complainant.

"During our first meeting, he spoke about his close connections with the sons of prominent Bollywood film directors, producers and actors. To gain my trust, he even arranged a phone call with a well-known actor. Believing his claims, I agreed to proceed with the photo shoot," the woman said.

SPI Gajanan Pawar of the Versova police station said, "We registered a case under Sections 376(2) (n), 328 and 506 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on November 21 and arrested the accused the same day.