Court charges director Madhur Bhandarkar of rape

Mumbai: A local court today issued process against noted Bollywood director Madhur Bhandarkar in a case of alleged rape filed by an aspiring actress Preeti Jain.Bhandarkar will now have to reply to the process issued against him on 18 October."The court has issued process (taken cognisance) after observing that prima facie a case of rape and criminal intimidation has been made out against Bhandarkar," Jain's lawyer Sushan Kunjuraman.[caption id="attachment_87443" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Madhur Bhandarkar is known for his issue-based movies like Chandni Bar, Page 3, Traffic Signal and Fashion.  Reuters"][/caption]In July 2004, Jain had lodged a complaint alleging that Bhandarkar had raped her several times between 1999 and 2004 under the pretext of marrying her and casting her as actress in his movies.The police had filed two 'B' summary reports (which means they consider it false or malicious information) in 2007 and 2009 but the court had rejected both of them.Three-time National Award-winning filmmaker Bhandarkar is known for his issue-based movies like Chandni Bar, Page 3, Traffic Signal and Fashion.