Court summons Madhur Bhandarkar in rape case

Mumbai: A Mumbai court issued summons to National Award winning director Madhur Bhandarkar in a 2004 rape case filed against him by an aspiring actress, her lawyer said Monday.

"The Andheri Railway Mobile Court today issued summons asking Bhandarkar to appear before it Oct 18 and file his statement in the case, failing which he will be arrested," advocate S. Kunjuraman, lawyer for the alleged victim, Preeti Jain, told IANS. Despite repeated attempts by IANS, Bhandarkar remained unavailable and did not reply to SMS messages seeking his version of the developments. Preeti Jain had in July 2004 accused Bhandarkar of rape on the pretext of giving her a lead role in his forthcoming movie. IANS