Pune: Actor forces minor to wear bikini for photo shoot, molests her

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An actor and assistant director from the Marathi film and television industry was arrested for molesting a 17-year-old girl. He allegedly forced her to wear a bikini and molested her on the pretext of a photoshoot a month back. The girl was so traumatised that she only told her mother about it recently. The girl, her mother and advocates Chinmay Bhosale and Dhanashree Pawar, lodged an FIR with the Deccan Gymkhana police against Mandar Sanjay Kulkarni, 34, a resident of Shaniwar Peth.

He was charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), and the Information Technology Act.

The girl said she was keen on pursuing acting and met Kulkarni at a workshop. He later gave her a role in a play that he directed. She said he then told her to do a photoshoot. "Accordingly on July 16, I went to his office for the shoot. I was given five outfits to wear."

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She said the fourth one was a bikini. She said, "I refused to wear it and said I was uncomfortable in it, but he said these pictures are a must. I said I would have to ask my parents. He told me I did not need permission from my parents, I am a grown-up. He showed me pictures of two-three other women and then shot me. Then he began to forcibly pull me close and take selfies. I escaped and went to change. But he came in forcibly and said he wanted to take my measurements. I screamed at him and fled."

Inspector (Crime) Raju Chavan of Deccan Gymkhana police station said, "The girl was in trauma. She narrated the ordeal to her mother on August 22 and the FIR was lodged on August 23. We arrested Kulkarni on Sunday."

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