Sajjan Jindal, JSW boss, accused of rape by actress

JSW Group MD Sajjan Jindal has been accused of rape by an actress. The incident allegedly occurred in January 2022 at the company's Mumbai office.

MUMBAI: A complaint of rape was registered against Sajjan Jindal, managing director of the JSW Group, on Wednesday at the BKC police station. The complainant, an actress, said the crime had taken place in January 2022 in the penthouse atop the company’s head office at the Bandra-Kurla Complex. She also claimed that the BKC police paid no heed to her complaint earlier this year, and she was forced to approach the court, which ordered the police to register the complaint.

Actor registers rape complaint against JSW MD Sajjan Jindal

As per the complainant, she first met Jindal in October 2021 in Dubai when the two were in the VIP box of a stadium, watching an IPL match. After that, they met in Jaipur at the wedding of MP Praful Patel’s son. The actress said Jindal began getting personal and handsy after their meeting in Mumbai, and after repeated propositions, forced himself on her.

“We had exchanged numbers and met in Mumbai because he had expressed interest in buying property from my brother who is a real estate consultant in Dubai,” said the complainant. “He started addressing me as ‘babe’ and ‘baby’, and described all the problems in his marriage when we first met alone, which made me very awkward.” She added that overtures like hugs and flirting from his side also made her feel uncomfortable.

The complainant said that during their subsequent interactions through text messages, Jindal expressed romantic feelings for her despite being married. “He also tried to kiss me and talked about getting physically intimate, which I shot down, saying that could happen only after we were married,” she said.

In January 2022, when the actress was in the company’s headquarters for a meeting, Jindal took her to the penthouse. She said that despite her constant protests and refusals, Jindal forced himself upon her.

The complainant said she tried to maintain a friendship with him even after the incident, but he stopped responding to her and later blocked her number. “Before blocking my number in June 2022, he threatened me with dire consequences if I approached the police,” she said.

In February 2023, she made a written complaint to the BKC police. The police paid no heed to her repeated complaints, which is why she approached the court, which ordered the BKC police to register the complaint.

An official from the BKC police said that based on the actress’ statements, the accused was booked under Sections 376 (rape), 354 (assault or use of criminal force on a woman, intending to outrage her modesty) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. “Further investigation in the matter is under way,” he said.

A spokesperson for JSW Group did not respond to calls and messages from HT seeking response to the allegations made by the woman.