Man arrested for ‘molesting’ actor sent to custody

MUMBAI: The 39-year-old man arrested for allegedly molesting a 17-year-old National awardwinning actress was on Monday produced before a Mumbai sessions court, where a judge remanded him to police custody for two days.

The accused — a Chandivali resident — was held late Sunday for allegedly harassing the actor on board a Delhi-mumbai flight operated by Vistara. The incident took place a day before that.

The actor posted an Instagram video narrating her experience, triggering an outrage. The wife of the accused said the incident is the result of a misunderstanding and that her husband is innocent.

Arguing before the judge, a public prosecutor said, “The accused who was seated on a seat behind the victim’s seat touched her with his leg on her shoulders and neck. The victim shifted a bit on her seat to get away from his leg but despite this, he repeated the act after which she raised an alarm. The act has been done intentionally.”

The defense lawyer said, “The act was not intentional. My client was very tired. He had taken a 7 am flight to Delhi for a condolence meet kept for his maternal uncle who had died four days prior to Saturday. He was returning home that night. He was travelling economy class and wanted a comfortable seat so he switched to business class.”

“He was in agony and asked the airhostess not to wake him up. After the actress had a heated argument with him he apologised to her and said it happened due to the turbulence. It could be that the actress did this for cheap publicity. The complaint was not filed at the airport but it was an afterthought and was filed at a private hotel a day later.”

After listening to both sides, the judged remanded Sachdev to police custody for two days. He will be produced before the court again on December 13. His wife Divya told reporters that he was innocent and had been falsely implicated. “My family and I are going through trau- ma. My husband is completely innocent. He is a family man. We have full trust in the judiciary and know we will get justice,” she said.