#MenToo: Karan Oberoi sent to 14-day judicial custody, family happy ‘it’s a step closer to bail’

MUMBAI: Actor

Karan Oberoi

wept minutes after a magistrate court in

Andheri

on Thursday remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days, an order that provides scope for bail. Oberoi was arrested on Sunday after a former acquaintance lodged a complaint, accusing him of rape and extortion. Oberoi’s lawyer will move for bail on Friday.

Oberoi’s friends from the film and TV industry rallied around him. Actors Pooja Bedi and Sachin Shroff, singers Chaitanya Bhosle, Sudhanshu Pandey and Sherrin Verghese were in attendance. They arrived before he was brought to court and sat together. Oberoi’s lawyer Dinesh Tiwari produced before the court messages that had been sent to the actor by the complainant, a 34-year-old tantric and healer.

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He also mentioned an interview that the complainant had given to TOI last year. Reading out some of the messages, Tiwari said they contained contradictions. He also stated that when Oberoi blocked the complainant’s phone number, she started messaging him from another number. The complainant’s lawyer presented other messages the actor and complainant had exchanged.

Oberoi was silent throughout the proceedings, wiping his eyes at one point. He spoke to his lawyer briefly while the magistrate was going through documents produced by both sides. After the order was passed, Oberoi hugged Bedi, who was in tears. After stepping out of the courtroom, the actor hugged his friends. His sister,

Gurbani

Oberoi, was also in tears. Speaking to TOI, Gurbani said she was happy with the order as it was a step closer to bail.

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“If the complainant was raped, why would she have gone back to meet Karan again and again? We are happy with the way our lawyer presented our side,” said Gurbani. Bedi said the #MenToo movement had already gone viral. “The movement fights for the right of Indian men given the fact that Indian laws are lopsided...I’m in favour of women empowerment but what about cases where the law is misused? The rights of both men and women are equally important,” she said. Bhosle, who worked with Oberoi in a band, said stories that appeared in media immediately after his arrest seemed like a press release issued by the complainant.

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“As human beings, it’s impossible to not judge someone on the basis of what we read. We want to balance people’s judgements by presenting the other side of the story,” he said. “Our country can’t have laws so protective of one sex that they impinge the rights and liberty of other sex. Being pro-women doesn’t mean being anti-men,” Bedi said.

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