Bollywood actor sentenced to 7 years for raping maid

[News_Editor]

Bollywood actor sentenced to 7 years for raping maid

2011-03-31 07:52:34 GMT+7 (ICT)

MUMBAI, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja on Wednesday was sentenced to seven years in prison for raping his maid in 2009, prosecutors said.

Ahuja, 37, of New Delhi, India, was arrested in mid-2009 on charges of rape, criminal intimidation, and wrongful confinement of his maid, but he was released on bail in October 2009, the Times of India reported.

According to court documents, the victim, who is now 20, was working in the actor's house on June 14, 2009. While Ahuja's wife and daughter were away, he called the victim to his room where she was subsequently raped.

She was later seen outside the house by a relative. With a swollen lip and her clothes untidy, she confessed the incident. In August 2010, however, the victim denied she had been raped, and during cross-examination, she told the defense that she had fallen in love with Ahuja. She later explained that she had filed the case at the behest of the relative who had got her the job.

Nonetheless, on Wednesday, the judge said the accused was convicted with strong evidence regarding Ahuja's conduct, the medical report that supported the victim's hymen tear, as well as DNA evidence.

Ahuja, who has a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter with his wife Anupam Ahuja, continued to claim his innocence even after the verdict.

The Hindi-language film industry commonly known as Bollywood is one of the largest film producers in the world and is based in Mumbai, India. Ahuja's Bollywood debut in 2006's 'Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi' earned him several awards, including the Filmfare Best Debut Award as well as the Screen Awards: Most Promising Newcomer.

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