Maid backtracks, but trial to continue

The 20-year-old domestic help who had accused actor Shiney Ahuja (32) of raping her may have backtracked, but the trial will continue.

The 20-year-old domestic help who had accused actor Shiney Ahuja (32) of raping her may have backtracked, but the trial will continue.

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The fast track court in Sewri, which is hearing the case, has declared the maid as a hostile witness, and the prosecution will now try to establish the case on the basis of testimonies of the other witnesses,

The police had filed a 109-page charge sheet against Ahuja with statements of 12 witnesses, forensic reports and other documentary evidence. The prosecution is now likely to get forensic and medical experts to depose.

Ahuja was arrested on June 14, 2009, after the maid lodged a complaint with Oshiwara police station alleging that the actor had raped her in the flat in the afternoon while she was alone. She had also claimed that Ahuja threatened her with dire consequences if she spoke about the incident.

The actor spent more than three months in jail and was released on October 1, 2009, after the Bombay High Court granted him bail.

Ahuja had contended during the course of arguments for his bail plea that medical reports don’t support the allegation of rape and that the DNA reports don’t match. He had argued that medical evidence indicates the victim had sexual intercourse, not that it was necessarily forceful. The police had, however, maintained then that they had enough medical evidence to prove Ahuja had raped the maid.

He has been charged under sections 376 (rape), which attracts a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. The next hearing is scheduled for September 15.