Kannada actor-director held for harassing actress

BENGALURU: Rajajinagar police arrested a 33-year-old film actor-cum-director on Sunday for allegedly sexually harassing a 29-year-old actress. The accused has beenidentified as BI Hemanth Kumar of Health Layout, II Stage, Nagarabhavi. He was remanded in judicial custody. The victim, a resident of Rajajinagar, filed a complaint on Saturday alleging that Hemanth offered her a lead role in his movie in 2022 for Rs 2 lakh as remuneration and allegedly misbehaved with her during shooting. She alleged that he spiked her drink during a promotional event in Mumbai in 2023 and filmed her in an inebriated state. Later, he started blackmailing her with the video. In 2022, Hemanth introduced himself as a producer and associate director and offered her the lead role in his film Richie. Though she signed an agreement on April 30, 2022, Hemanth did not start shooting as promised. Later during shooting, he allegedly harassed her demanding that she dress indecently for the role and also touched her in an objectionable and inappropriate manner. On August 5, 2023, Hemanth organised a media event in Mumbai to promote his film. During dinner, he allegedly forced her to drink liquor. When she refused, he allegedly spiked her soft drink with liquor when she went to the washroom. He recorded her video when she was in an inebriated state.The victim accused Hemanth of threatening to post edited and uncensored video clips from Richie on social media platforms to defame her. She alsoalleged that Hemanth sent his henchmen to keep a watch on her and her mother. Because of this, they now live in fear and insecurity. Following this, the complainant filed a civil suit before the Bengaluru City Civil Court seeking a permanent injunction order preventing Hemanth and social media platforms from publishing those video clips. The court issued an interim injunction restraining them from posting any video clips on socialmedia, according to a press release. Further investigations are on.