Shiney guilty of rape, gets 7 yrs

A fast track court at Sewree sentenced Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja to seven years of rigorous imprisonment on Wednesday for raping his 19-year-old domestic help at his Oshiwara residence in June 2009. HT reports. Ahuja case | Reactions to the verdict

A fast track court at Sewree (in east Mumbai) sentenced Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja to seven years of rigorous imprisonment on Wednesday for raping his 19-year-old domestic help at his Oshiwara residence in June 2009.

Dressed in a pink shirt and jeans, Ahuja who came to the court with his wife Anupam and his family was seen weeping after the verdict.

Ad-hoc additional sessions judge PM Chouhan while convicting Ahuja also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000. However, the actor has been acquitted of charges of wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation.

The prosecution had examined a total of 15 witnesses including the victim for proving its case against the actor.

Ahuja's lawyer Shrikant Shivde told media persons that "the judge has relied on the statement given by the victim at the time of registration of FIR, and has held the victim had lied and made a false statement while testifying in court".

The victim in her complaint had said Ahuja confined her in a room in his Oshiwara flat and raped her in the afternoon of June 14, 2009. Ahuja was arrested the same day and released on bail three months later.

In a major twist, on August 25, 2010 the victim turned hostile stating Ahuja had never raped her, and that she had filed the complaint at the behest of another woman who had got her the job at Ahuja's residence.

The victim had also told the court that the contents written in the police report were incorrect and she never stated so.

HT was the first to report on September 7, 2010 that the domestic help had turned hostile. But the medical report and DNA fingerprinting report suggested otherwise. Both reports suggested an intercourse between the domestic help and Ahuja.

"The court has primarily taken into consideration the DNA fingerprinting and medical reports which tested positive," said public prosecutor Kashinath Dighe. "Apart from other evidences, the court has also taken into consideration the victim's conduct after the incident," the prosecutor added.