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Kannada actor Varun Aradya has been accused of blackmailing and threatening his former girlfriend, social media influencer Varsha Kaveri, using her private photos, and an FIR has now been lodged against him in Bengaluru. In her complaint, Varsha stated that Varun began blackmailing her after she caught him cheating on her.
Varsha and Varun reportedly began dating in 2019 after coming across each other on social media. However, in 2023, Varsha found photos of Varun in compromising positions with another woman, and when she confronted him about the same, he threatened to leak her private photos and videos online.
In her complaint, Varsha stated that he had recorded her videos secretly, without her consent. On September 10, 2023, Varun sent an obscene picture of Varsha on her personal number, and when she questioned him, he made distasteful comments about her appearance and also gave her death threats.
Varsha said that Varun threatened to kill her if she even thought of marrying someone else.
After months of hesitation, Varsha finally decided to approach the police and file an official complaint against Varun. She lodged the complaint on September 7, 2024, at the Basaveshwarnagar Police Station. Based on her complaint, the police registered an FIR and an investigation is now underway.
Varun is yet to issue an official statement on the complaint.
The case comes in the midst of the raging MeToo movement in the south film industry, particularly in the Malayalam film industry, wherein several women have come forward and accused actors and filmmakers of sexually harassing, abusing and blackmailing them.
After the uproar in Mollywood, celebs in the other film industries too demanded a similar movement to empower women voice out the injustice meted out to them.
