Shiney confessed to rape: Police

Mumbai police collect DNA samples; actors wife says its a 'frame-up'

 Medical tests on the victim, who has since gone to her native place Roha in Konkan, have reportedly confirmed that she was raped by the actor on Sunday in his apartment at Tarapore Towers in Oshiwara in North-East Mumbai.

 The actor’s wife Anupam, however, asserted that contrary to earlier media reports, her husband has not confessed to either rape or consensual sex.

 The maid had complained that she was raped by the actor. On basis of her complaint, Shiney was arrested by the police and a metropolitan court remanded him to police custody till Thursday.  Shiney was again subjected to intense questioning by the investigators in Andheri police lockup, where the actor has been spending sleepless nights and sometimes even skipping meals.

Shattered and remorseful

 ACP Dilip Suryavanshi told reporters that the actor is “completely shattered” and appeared to be “remorseful” for what he allegedly have done and is “repenting” for the crime. The officer also claimed that Shiney has “confessed” to having raped the victim. Shiney’s lawyer Srikant Shivde, however, contested the police claims and said even if the actor had given any such statement to the police for his alleged crime, it would have no evidenciary value in court.

“We will wait until the chargesheet is filed,” the lawyer said.  The police officer, however, went on record stating that Shiney told investigators that he never thought the crime he was committing was “so serious.” The actor allegedly thought that the maid would keep quiet and would not report to the police, the officer said. The police have already recorded statements of four witnesses, including another maid in the Ahuja house, the building watchman and the victim's aunt with who she was living in Mumbai. “Their statements corroborate the victim’s complaint,” the police officer said.

 The police are also trying to dig into Shiney’s past and have reportedly come across a non-cognisable complaint against the actor about sexual harassment. Meanwhile, a police team went to Roha in nearby Raigad district to verify from her school whether she was a minor, that is, less than 18 years old. In that case, the crime becomes even more serious.  The maid was working for the Ahujas for past two months for Rs 3,000 per month. She is said to have told the police that she never suspected Shiney would do such a thing to her as she had found him to be a “thorough gentleman.”  While there is lot of media focus on the case, Anupam on Wednesay called a news conference to defend him and declared that the case was a “frame-up” to destroy her husband.  “I can’t answer anything about what the maid was thinking... It is a frame up. He has been framed. Who is doing (what) and why someone is doing it... I can’t say. But truth will come out,” Anupam said.

“When there is no smoke, there is no question of fire. I am telling you again it’s rubbish. Shiney is not a rapist. He is an innocent man. I am not reacting as his wife who has known him for years and who is madly in love with him. I also speak as a woman and as a mother of a daughter and I can say that Shiney is not a rapist,” she said.

Anupam, who was accompanied by friends, relatives and her neighbours from Tarapore Towers in Oshiwara, answered only a few questions.

She asserted that Shiney has not confessed to consensual sex with the maid.