Anurag Kashyap summoned by Mumbai Police in alleged sexual assault case

The accuser, actor Payal Ghosh, had warned she would go on a hunger strike if no action is taken against Kashyap

Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who had been accused by a female actor of rape, has now been summoned to appear at the Versova police station on Thursday.

“Mumbai Police summons film director Anurag Kashyap (in file photo) asking him to appear at Versova Police station tomorrow at 11 am, in connection with the alleged sexual assault against actor,” ANI reported.

Kashyap, in a statement by his lawyer on social media, had called the allegations ‘baseless’. “My client, Anurag Kashyap, has been deeply pained by the false allegations of sexual misconduct that have recently surfaced against him. These allegations are completely false, malicious and dishonest,” his lawyer Priyanka Khimani had said in a statement.

Payal Ghosh, who had filed and FIR based on rape allegation against Kashyap last week, on Tuesday met Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari, demanding action against the filmmaker. She was accompanied by Rajya Sabha MP Ramdas Athawale. The two had also met Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Vishwas Nangare Patil earlier in the week, seeking security for the actor, reported the Hindustan Times.

The actor had earlier questioned the delay in arresting Kashyap, warning that she will go on a hunger strike if no action is taken.

The Mumbai Police had registered an FIR against Kashyap after Ghosh said he raped her in 2013, an official said. The First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Versova police station on September 22 after the actor, along with her lawyer Nitin Satpute, approached the police, the official said.

The FIR was registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 376 (I) (rape), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement), the official said, adding that further investigation is underway.

In her police complaint, Ghosh alleged that Kashyap raped her at a place on Yari Road in Versova.

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