Actor Pearl V Puri, booked for raping minor, granted bail
What's the story
Puri-in-rape-case/story">Pearl V Puri, who was recently arrested for allegedly raping a 5-year-old, has been granted bail, his lawyer Rajeev Sawant confirmed.
Sawant had applied for the bail on June 7, which was rejected four days later. A hearing was held today, where Puri got the bail.
To recall, he was booked under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act on June 4.
Quote
Puri's lawyer 'will certainly challenge his arrest and everything'
Sawant said, "By evening he will be at home with mom."
Talking about the further course of action, he added, "We'll see what to do, how we will go ahead with it, then we will challenge it. We will certainly challenge his arrest and everything."
Tracing back, many of Puri's friends including Ekta Kapoor had alleged that the complainant's father accused him falsely.
Support
Kapoor and many others from industry supported Puri
Kapoor said that the complainant's mother had admitted to her that it was a false claim by the father to win an ongoing custody battle.
Meanwhile, others like Aly Goni, Anita Hassanandani, Krystle D'Souza and wife of T-Series honcho Bhushan Kumar, Divya Khosla, also backed the theory of him being framed for the crime.
Lending support, designer Rashmi Aarya even attended the hearing.
Details
Girl's father lodged a complaint against the 'Naagin 3' actor
It all started when the girl's father lodged a complaint against the Naagin 3 actor, where he claimed that a medical checkup revealed the assault.
He added that his daughter picked Puri's picture out of the many images shown to her during the investigation.
The alleged incident happened in the presence of her mother, he added.
Journalist Asjad Nazir had tweeted the full complaint.
Proof
Victim's mother also claims that her husband has framed Puri
Thereafter, the victim's mother Ekta Sharma, taking an opposite stand, extended support to Puri.
She said that she "has been in an extremely toxic marriage for 10 years and does not have her daughter also since two years." (The incident apparently happened in 2019).
Sharma added that it's her husband's ploy to prove in the court that she hasn't been a good mother.
DCP speaks
'There's evidence against him. Truth will be decided in trial'
He's creating "this whole mess" so that she doesn't get her daughter's custody, Sharma added.
But the Mumbai Police DCP contradicted her claims, and insinuated that they had evidence against Puri.
He said, "His name has come up in the investigation. There is evidence against him. The truth will be decided in the trial."
The incident reportedly happened on the sets of Bepanah Pyaarr.