Mumbai Crime: Lawyer accused of rape absconding

The accused claimed the Dindoshi sessions court has granted him interim oral relief from arrest. Representation pic

A city-based lawyer has been absconding ever since he allegedly raped a client, to whom he had proposed, at her Madh Island house. The woman has filed a complaint with the Malwani police. Cops said that the complainant, a Bollywood junior artiste who had worked in films such as Singham, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and Padmavat and TV serials, met B J Shaikh at Borivli court in January 2023. She has been fighting a property dispute case registered at the Goregaon police station in 2012.

During the pandemic, she lost her source of income and was looking for a lawyer who would charge her a low fee, when Shaikh approached her. But, she didn't hire him. According to the woman, after meeting her often, Shaikh sought her hand in marriage and she agreed. The lawyer told her that he would visit her home with his parents on March 5 to make it official. "I made all the arrangements, but he came alone," she told mid-day. Shaikh told her that his mother had fallen ill and was hospitalised.

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He later allegedly forced himself on her. "After I began crying, the accused showed remorse. He started slapping himself, saying he had made a big mistake. He sought forgiveness and ran away," she told mid-day. She said when Shaikh came to know that she was trying to go to the police, he called her and said he would marry her at the Bandra court on March 15. However, he didn't show up, she said. On March 23, he said he didn't want to get married.

Denying the allegations, Shaikh told mid-day, "The Dindoshi sessions court has granted me interim oral relief from arrest till the next date of the case hearing." "She has the tendency to trap people in false cases," he alleged. He added, "On the day of the incident, I went to Madh to meet another client. I called her and she asked me to visit her home. I met her in the presence of her sister and brother-in-law. The rape allegation is fake."