Filmmaker Shakeel Noorani Arrested for Alleged Rape of Aspiring Actress
Malwani police arrested 73-year-old producer, director, and scriptwriter Shakeel Noorani on Saturday from a farmhouse in Mahabaleshwar after he spent 40 days on the run. Noorani was taken into custody for allegedly raping an aspiring actress repeatedly over the past four years, threatening to release videos of the sexual assault, and inducing a miscarriage. During the search for the accused, police teams had searched his son's home in Lokhandwala, Andheri.
Following his apprehension, the Malwani police produced Noorani before a court, which remanded him in police custody until August 12. Authorities have invoked several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the filmmaker, including Section 64(2)(M) for rape, Section 123 for causing hurt by means of poison, Section 351(2) for criminal intimidation, and Section 88 for causing miscarriage.
According to the complaint filed by the woman, the abuse began four years ago when Noorani invited her to his residence in Malwani under the pretext of discussing a film script. The complainant stated that during this meeting, Noorani spiked her drink. She lost consciousness after consuming the drink, and Noorani allegedly raped her while she was unconscious.
The complainant told police that when she regained consciousness, Noorani showed her a video on his mobile phone capturing the sexual assault. He allegedly threatened to circulate the video publicly if she reported the incident to the police or confided in her family. The woman alleged that Noorani subsequently used the recorded video to repeatedly threaten and rape her on multiple occasions over the four-year period.
In her official complaint, the aspiring actress also alleged that Noorani repeatedly gave her contraceptive pills following the sexual assaults, which induced a miscarriage.
The filmmaker went into hiding immediately after the First Information Report was filed 40 days ago. A police team conducted searches to locate him, including checking his son's residence in Lokhandwala, Andheri, but found no trace of him at the time. He was eventually traced to the Mahabaleshwar farmhouse, where officers executed his arrest on Saturday.
