Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; June 8, 2019)

TV actor Karan Oberoi, who was arrested on May 5 on charges of rape and extortion levelled against him by a tantrik-cum-healer, was granted bail on a bond of Rs 50,000 by the Bombay High Court yesterday. The judgment came a month after the actor was arrested and sent to judicial custody three days later (May 9) by the Andheri Magistrate Court.

The hearing, which was scheduled to take place on Thursday before the High Court, was postponed by a day after the public prosecutor asked for more time to go through the papers pertaining to the case.

Yesterday, in his argument before the judge, Karan’s lawyer Dinesh Tiwari said, “The applicant (Karan) got in touch with the complainant in October 2016, and he gave her money to refurbish his home. They grew closer and got into a consensual relationship with the passage of time. However, Karan decided to distance himself from her after he learnt that she is into black magic and occult practices. There was no commitment from Karan’s side to the complainant. She started making false allegations against him after she realised that he did not want to be with her. She filed an NC on October 25, 2018, but there is no mention of rape or extortion in it. There is also no mention of the place, date or time of the next two acts of rape that have allegedly taken place in her FIR. In fact, Karan had filed an NC 10 days before she filed a complaint.”

Dinesh also added that the woman would make demands for sex from Karan after he distanced himself from her. “She would call from different numbers every time he blocked her. She voluntarily gave him the gifts,” he stated.

Quoting the recent FIR lodged by the complainant on May 25 in which she claimed that she was attacked by three bike-borne people, who also threatened her to withdraw the case, the lawyer said, “Strangely, everything happens on the 25th. The attack was staged to delay his bail.”

After bail was granted, Dinesh told BT, “The court observed that the lady has been obsessed with the applicant, and the communication placed on record clearly indicates that it could not be a case of rape. After considering everything, bail has been granted. The judge also questioned why the complainant’s mobile phone hasn’t been seized.”

He added, “As soon as Karan is out, we will take everybody to task, including the complainant and the lawyer. Those responsible will have to pay a price for the ordeal that Karan went through in this one month. We will expose them for framing him in a false case. This should be a milestone for all those who have been wrongly accused. Karan should be out today (Saturday). He will be required to record his statement with the police station and provide them with all the material pertaining to the case.”

An ecstatic Gurbani Oberoi, Karan’s sister, shared, “I am so overwhelmed. It’s such a big relief. Finally, we have got justice.”