Court rejects pre-arrest bail of TV actor for raping co-actor

“Having gone through the case diary, statements recorded by the investigation officer and the WhatsApp and Instagram messages exchanged between the complainant and the applicant, I believe that a that the case should be thoroughly investigated,” said additional sessions judge Ashish Ayachit on April 26 while rejecting Mishra’s pre-arrest bail plea.

Mumbai: The Dindoshi sessions court rejected the anticipatory bail plea of television actor Shashank aka Shaan Mishra who was booked for allegedly raping a co-actor.

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“Having gone through the case diary, statements recorded by the investigation officer and the WhatsApp and Instagram messages exchanged between the complainant and the applicant, I believe that a that the case should be thoroughly investigated,” said additional sessions judge Ashish Ayachit on April 26 while rejecting Mishra’s pre-arrest bail plea.

Mishra was booked on April 5. After registration of the FIR, he moved to the Dindoshi court for anticipatory bail. His lawyer Shailendra Mishra argued that a false report had been lodged against the actor to extract money from him and tarnish his image.

Shailendra pointed out that the complainant had earlier approached the Goregaon Police Station twice. He said first she lodged a non-cognizable complaint and later, on March 25, accused him of extorting money from her, but she did not allege rape.

The lawyer also pointed out WhatsApp chats exchanged between the two to highlight his claim that there was no physical relationship between them and therefore there was no question of rape.

Public prosecutor Shailendra Pachpor and advocate Shreyans Mithare for the complainant opposed the plea, contending that the crime was heinous, and the accused was threatening witnesses. Mithare also submitted that the WhatsApp messages exchanged between the parties “clearly establish that the applicant/accused has committed a serious offence.”