Woman accuses Jeetendra of sexual abuse, actor's lawyer rebuffs the claims
Mumbai: Veteran actor Jeetendra has been accused by one of his cousins of sexually assaulting her at a hotel in Shimla during the shooting of a film 47 years ago.
The woman, whose name has been withheld, has written a letter to the DGP of Himachal Pradesh, seeking the registration of an FIR.
In the letter, the woman said that the alleged abuse took place in January 1971, when the actor was 28 and she was 18.
However, the actor’s advocate rubbished the claims and sent out a statement clarifying the same.
The woman said that she had just turned 18, when Jeetendra, without informing her, took her father’s permission to take her to visit his film’s set, where he sexually assaulted her.
In her complaint to the Director General of Police, Himachal Pradesh, she said the actor had “arranged” for the victim to join him from New Delhi to Shimla on the sets of a film he was shooting for.
She alleged in the complaint that after reaching Shimla at night, an inebriated Jeetendra went to her room, joined two twin beds and sexually assaulted her.
She decided to file a police complaint after the demise of her parents, who would have been heartbroken, had they learnt about the sexual abuse by Jeetendra, their nephew, she said.
The victim wants closure for the mental trauma she suffered for years after the alleged abuse.
Advocate Rizwan Siddiquee, representing Jeetendra said that, “Foremost, my client specifically and categorically denies any such incident. Besides, even otherwise such baseless, ridiculous and fabricated claims cannot be entertained by any court of law or the law enforcement agencies after a span of almost 50 years. The statute has provided a justice delivery system through the courts, and the Limitation Act 1963 was specifically enacted to ensure that all genuine complaints are made within a maximum time limit of three years, so that a proper investigation is carried out and timely justice is delivered. Besides I want to make it specifically clear that the law does not give any person any rights or liberties of making any baseless, ridiculous or fabricated claims against any man publicly and seek to defame him with a hidden personal agenda.”
(With inputs from Bharti Dubey)
