The D.N. Nagar (Bombay) police station today (16th July) registered a rape FIR against producer and music baron Bhushan Kumar on the basis of a complaint filed by a 30-year-old model and aspiring actress. According to her, she knew Bhushan from 2017 and he sexually exploited her from 2017 to 2020 under the pretext of giving her work in his upcoming film/s. The woman said that she had approached the police as she was cheated by the 43-year-old Bhushan. While the probe in the matter has begun, no arrest has been made so far.
A case under sections 376 (rape), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code was registered this morning. This is not the first case against Bhushan Kumar. Earlier, during the #MeToo movement in 2018, a woman had accused him of seeking sexual favours by calling her to his bungalow for signing a three-film deal. She had added that he had threatened to destroy her career after she refused to give in to his demands for sexual favours. Bhushan had refuted the allegations.
In the current case also, Bhushan Kumar’s team has issued a statement. According to the team, “The complaint filed against Mr. Bhushan Kumar is completely false and malicious and the contents of the same are denied. It has been falsely alleged that the lady in question was sexually exploited between 2017 and 2020 on the pretext of giving her work. It is a matter of record that she has already worked for T-Series banner in film and music videos. Around March 2021, she approached Mr. Bhushan Kumar, seeking help to fund one of the web series which she wanted to produce, which was politely refused. Thereafter, in June 2021, after the lifting of lockdown in Maharashtra, she started approaching T-Series banner in collusion with her accomplice, demanding huge sum of money as extortion amount. Consequently, a complaint was filed by T-Series banner against the attempted extortion with police at Amboli police station on 1st July, 2021. We also have evidence in the form of audio recording for the extortion attempt and the same shall be provided to the investigating agency. The present complaint filed by her is nothing but a counter-blast to the complaint filed against her and her accomplice for the offence of extortion. We are in the process of consulting our lawyers in this regard and will take appropriate legal action.”