Actor’s trial to begin

The Sewri fast track court on Monday framed rape charges against Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja.

The Sewri fast track court on Monday framed rape charges against Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja (32).

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Ahuja has been accused of raping his twenty-year-old maid at his Oshiwara residence last year.

The court framed charges against Ahuja under sections 376 (rape) under which the maximum sentence is 10 years, 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), confirmed the public prosecutor.

The prosecution is likely to file the documents on basis of which it will argue the case on March 6.

Ahuja was arrested on June 15 after his maid filed a complaint with the Oshiwara police station saying he raped her when she was alone in on the afternoon of June 14.

The maid added that Ahuja threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone about the incident.

“Ahuja pleaded not guilty,” his advocate Shrikant Shivde said, which means he will face a trial.

Last August, the Oshiwara police filed 109 charge sheet, which included the statement of the victim and witnesses, forensic reports and other documentary evidence.

Both the sessions court and the fast track court have rejected Ahuja’s bail as the police claimed that there could be a threat to the victim’s life if Ahuja was released on bail.

The Bombay High Court finally granted him bail on October 1, 2009, directing him to shift to Delhi.

Ahuja had also moved the Bombay High court seeking copies of the victim and his forensic and medical reports.

The high court, directing that the documents be given to Ahuja restrained the fast track court against framing charges against him until the copies were given to the accused.