A sessions court in Mumbai recently sentenced a casting director to life imprisonment for harassing and raping a 23-year-old aspiring actor-model. The man also took inappropriate photos of her and sent them to her husband and employer.
The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 1.31 lakh, of which the casting director has to pay Rs 1 lakh to the survivor as compensation.
The woman’s husband, who works in Saputara in Nashik, left her and their newborn baby upon receiving the photos.
In 2011, while working at a hospital, she met the accused Ravindranath Ghosh. He introduced himself as a cameraman and casting director and said he is producing a television series.
After she expressed her interest in acting, Ghosh promised to help her. Later that month, he referred her to a TV show audition and promised her a job in exchange for sexual favours.
The woman began ignoring his calls. When she responded after two weeks, he asked her to meet him at Madh Island. In February 2012, she met him at a lodge in Madh Island where he raped her and took photos of her.
He coerced her into maintaining sexual relations with him and threatened to send the photos to her husband if she refused. According to her complaint, Ghosh continued to rape her till March 2012.
To avoid him, she changed her job but he continued to show up at her work place. She briefly moved to Saputara but returned to Mumbai in December 2012. By then, she was pregnant.
Ghosh then showed up at her house and demanded Rs 1 lakh for ending their relationship, which she agreed to pay after giving birth. In 2013, she changed her phone number. Ghosh then sent nude photos of her to her employer.
In December that year, she filed a complaint and Ghosh was arrested. However, she claimed that he continued sending threatening letters from prison.
Though the defence counsel argued the relationship was consensual, Judge AD Deo noted that consent given under fear of injury of misconception of fact is not consent.