Man held for molesting teen Bollywood actor sent to 2-day police custody

The 39-year-old man arrested for allegedly molesting a 17-year-old National award-winning actress was on Monday produced before a Mumbai sessions court, where a

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

The actor posted an Instagram video narrating her experience, triggering an outrage (File Ph oto)

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 has 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 so had asked the airhostess not to wake him up. After the actress had a heated argument with him he apologized 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.

We are being socially shamed: Exec’s family

Vikas Sachdev, the man accused of molesting a teenage actor on a Delhi-Mumbai, hugged his wife Divya as she broke down at the Dindoshi sessions court on Monday.

After he was remanded in police custody, his wife Divya told reporters that he was innocent and had been falsely implicated.

Vikas works as an executive at a private firm, which distributes equipment such as high-end cameras. He, Divya and their nine-year-old son live in Chandivli.

Vikas ‘ father is a retired income tax officer who lives in Delhi. His father-in-law is a retired Army official.

“My family and I are going through a lot of trauma. My husband is completely innocent. He is a family man. We have full trust in the judiciary and know we will get justice. He has been falsely implicated. He had no idea that there was a police complaint against him,” Divya told reporters.

She said the police came to their house at 12.30 pm on Sunday, while Vikas was out buying groceries. “They took him away soon after he returned. Despite our questions, they did not tell us that he was being arrested,” she said.

Vikas’ brother-in-law Atul Batra said the actor should realise that their family is suffering.

“Vikas is innocent. He had apologised to the girl for touching her unintentionally. He is a frequent flier and cannot even think of doing something like that,” he said.

“We come from a well-do-to family and have never faced such a situation. We have been socially shamed as Vikas is being painted as a sexual offender,” he added.