Pune: A renowned Marathi actor-director has been arrested by the Deccan Gymkhana police for molesting a 17-year-old girl. The accused has been identified as Mandar Kulkarni.
According to the victim, on the pretext of a photo shoot, Kulkarni forced her to wear a bikini and molested her a month ago. Recently, the girl narrated the incident to her mother after which a First Information Report was registered at the Deccan Gymkhana police station under the Indian Penal Code section of assault or criminal force to woman with an intent to outrage her modesty (354), Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and under the relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
After a FIR was registered, Kulkarni was arrested on Sunday. According to the police, the girl is pursing an acting career and met the accused at a workshop. He then gave her a role in his play and insisted that she does a photo shoot.
On July 16, the victim went to his office for a photo shoot and was given five outfits to wear. According to the victim, the fourth outfit was a bikini. The victim objected and refused to wear it at first, but he insisted that these pictures are a must for her role.
The victim wanted to ask her parents views but Kulkarni said there is no need to take permission from them as she was a grown-up girl. He also showed her pictures of two to three women in the outfit and then shot the victim's pictures.
After a while, he began to forcibly pull her close to him and take selfies. The victim escaped and went to change her clothes, but he came in forcibly and said he wanted to take her outfit measurement. She finally screamed and escaped, said the victim in her complaint
