Mumbai Police lodge case against Bhushan Kumar for alleged rape

According to the complainant, Kumar, the managing director of T-Series, raped her under false promise of work in films. A police officer said the complainant, an Andheri resident, told them that she knew Kumar since August 2017, and the film producer sexually exploited her between 2017 and 2020

 Mumbai Police have registered a case against T-series managing director and film producer Bhushan Kumar after a 30-year-old woman accused him of raping her on the pretext of giving her a job, officials said on Friday.

Bhushan Kumar. (File photo)

Kumar, son of music baron, the late Gulshan Kumar, however, has denied the allegations and accused the woman of extortion.

The offence was registered on Thursday at DN Nagar police station in Andheri (West) on the basis of the complaint filed by the 30-year-old woman, who is an aspiring actor, the officials said.

According to the complaint, the woman has known Kumar, 43, since 2017 and has accused him of raping her several times between 2017 and 2020. HT has seen a copy of the complaint.

In her complaint, the woman has alleged that she met Kumar at a hotel in Mumbai in September 2017, when he gave her his contact details. She has further alleged that Kumar called her to his bungalow on October 14, 2017, where he raped her. Kumar allegedly recorded the act and threatened to make the video public if she approached the police, the woman said.

She did not file a complaint earlier as she was frightened, the woman has said.

“We have registered a case under sections 376 (rape) , 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code,” said Milind Kurde, senior police inspector of DN Nagar police station.

Kumar’s team, however, has issued a statement calling the allegations “completely false”, saying that the woman “has already worked for T-Series banner in Film and music videos”.

“The complaint filed against Mr. Bhushan Kumar is completely false and malicious and the contents of the same are denied,” said the statement. “It has been falsely alleged that the lady in question was sexually exploited between 2017 to 2020 on the pretext of giving her work.”

According to the statement, the woman allegedly approached Kumar in March 2021, seeking help to produce a web-series. “Thereafter, in June 2021 after the lifting of lockdown in Maharashtra, she started approaching T-Series banner in collusion with her accomplice demanding huge sum of money as extortion amount,” the statement said.

“Consequently, a complaint was filed by T-Series banner against the attempted extortion with the Amboli police station on 1st July 2021. We also have evidence in the form of audio recording for the extortion attempt and the same shall be provided to investigating agency. The present complaint filed by her is nothing but a counter blast to the complaint filed against her and her accomplice for the offence of extortion,” the statement added.

Earlier, an unidentified woman had accused Kumar of seeking sexual favors in exchange of a three-movie contract. The woman alleged on Twitter during the #MeeToo movement that the film producer invited her to his bungalow and threatened to destroy her career when she resisted his sexual advances. Kumar refuted the allegations. She, however, did not file a complaint then.

T-Series is a music record label and a film production company founded by Gulshan Kumar.

(With agency inputs)