A DOMESTIC maid who alleged that a Bollywood actor raped her at his home has withdrawn her allegation, Indian media said yesterday.
The 20-year-old woman told a court in Mumbai that Shiney Ahuja did not attack her and that she had been told to make a complaint to police by another woman who had initially found her the job with the star.
Public prosecutor Kashinath Dighe told the hearing that the maid had identified Ahuja but said the alleged rape “never happened”.
Ahuja, who has starred in a number of Bollywood films, including Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (A Thousand Desires), Gangster and Life in a Metro, was arrested in June last year.
The 37-year-old spent three months in prison on remand until he was released on bail. He faces a maximum 10 years in jail if convicted of rape and “wrongfully confining” the woman. He denies the charges.
Dighe said the maid runs the risk of being punished for perjury.
