Model turned actress Preeti Jain who claimed that filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar raped her repeatedly for three years and that he had promised her a role in his film but backed out later. Madhur denied the charges of rape and criminal intimidation and submitted that the victim was trying to use arm-twisting tactics to get a role in his film. The ugly war began then; the actress filed complaint and knocked legal doors. Single lady with old father (now he is no more) went pillar to post for seeking justice. On the other side, Madhur is a director with well resourced and have good connection, who can afford to stand tall against all odds.
The saga went on for many years. Finally, she is being sentenced to three years in jail after found guilty of plotting to kill Bhandarkar. The sentence has been suspended by four weeks and she has been granted bail.
She is alleged to have given a contract to kill Bhandarkar. Naresh Pardeshi, member of the Gawli gang, who was allegedly, paid Rs. 70, 000 as part of a deal is still in custody. Jain was earlier arrested in 2005 by the city police on the charge of hiring Pardeshi. She approached Pardeshi a year after she had filed a rape case against Bhandarkar. Now, court has also sentenced Pardeshi and Shivram Das – to three years on charges of conspiracy, aiding and abetting crime. Two other aides from Uttar Pradesh were acquitted for lack of evidence.
According to the chargesheet record, Jain supposedly paid Rs. 70,000 to the gangsters for killing the filmmaker. However, as the task was not completed, she asked for refund of her money. The issue reached Gawli, who then sent his men to alert the police. In this entire story, there was no witness but only the gangster. She failed to prove herself innocent. The case came to limelight when Gawli (now in jail) was an MLA, wrote to then Deputy CM R.R. Patil and the Mumbai police about the conspiracy. The police suspect the trail leads to Gawli himself, that he used Pardeshi—a struggling jobless youth—as a front till it was convenient. They have copies of telephone records and conversations between Gawli and Preeti, and between Pardeshi and Preeti. Pardeshi used some of the ‘supari’ money to rent a flat for his family in south-central Mumbai. The cops recovered Bhandarkar’s photograph with his phone number from the flat but believe Pardeshi was too new to underworld machinations to carry out a contract killing. Gawli has disassociated himself from Pardeshi, unwilling to acknowledge that the latter was active in his Akhil Bharatiya Sena till recently. Preeti admitted to meeting Gawli only because she believed he could raise the rape issue in the assembly.
Mumbai police already interrogated and put her through lie detector and brain-mapping tests in Bangalore. The reports were in favour of Jain, she got bail in 2005. However, the police are now trying to establish if the trail to Gawli can be proved. Gawli was arrested on extortion charges and issuing death threats to another former aide.
After the case came to light, Mr. Bhandarkar has been given protection by the police. Gawli has not been questioned in the case yet. It’s been almost 14 long years, she got arrested gone through hell and then again got bail, and even today she is subjected to all legal melancholy. This has become never ending story for her. Meanwhile Bhandarkar delivered hit films, got married extended family and enjoying support from politicians to the celebs.
Bhandarkar, used to work as Ram Gopal Verma’s assistant and later shot to fame with his film on bar dancers, “Chandni Bar”.
Righteousness is always partial towards women and not as lenient or feeble in punishment or judgement as would be expected to women. If the case would be on man instead of women for ‘plotting the murder’, then he would definitely get rid of it because man know to manipulate the case or received minimum punishment. A single woman who came to glamour industry to make her career lost in couch. Though the intimacy was mutual, one wanted body to fulfill his lust whereas other wanted a chance in film to fulfill her dream. That was ‘give and take’ relationship but one walked away from it, betraying other with no responsibility or guilt. The girl sought different medium of publicity. She went legal, claiming it was rape. At the end the entire plot went haywire, with many twists and turns. The victim remained at par battling everyday a new challenge and the couch master has become larger than life.
When judiciary, authority, society, circumstances and fate goes against one person, no matter how innocent or guilty he or she is…. time becomes ruthless for him or her.
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