Few months ago, a sexual harassment case has been filed against veteran bollywood actor Jeetendra by his cousin sister, who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by him in a hotel here in January 1971.
Well now, the actor gets a major relief as Himachal Pradesh High Court quashed a complaint against the actor.
Justice Ajay Mohan Goel on Monday dismissed the FIR lodged on February 16 last year. The offence is punishable with maximum imprisonment of two years.
Himachal Pradesh High Court quashes sexual assault complaint against Jeetendra
In his 26-page judgment, Justice Goel found credible the actor’s contention that the complaint was “mala fide” as the woman’s daughter had been rejected in an audition by Balaji Motion Pictures Limited run by the Jeetendra’s family.
The judge said the contents of the FIR do not provide ground to proceed against the accused, as they appear to be “vague” and inherently absurd.
The incident reportedly took place in 1971 when the victim was 18 and Jeetendra was 28 and the actor “arranged” for the survivor to join him from New Delhi to Shimla on the set of his movie without her “awareness”.
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The complainant has claimed that on the night they reached Shimla, Jeetendra returned to the room in an inebriated state, joined the two separate beds and sexually assaulted her.
Jeetendra’s cousin claimed before the registration of the FIR that the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment encouraged her to speak against the “abuse”.