Bollywood singer Ankit Tiwari seeks discharge in rape case

Mumbai, Apr 28: Bollywood singer Ankit Tiwari, arrested for allegedly raping a woman, has moved a discharge application in the sessions court here.

While stating that his relationship with the complainant woman was consensual, the application also says that her claim to have never drunk liquor can't be true because she worked in the advertising industry. His lawyer Mahesh Vaswani said the plea will come up for hearing on May 4.

Tiwari was arrested in May, 2014, in the case and was granted bail a month later. In the application, he says the complainant's allegations in her written statement to the police and those in the subsequent first information report (FIR) vary.

The victim claimed she had never consumed liquor but the "fact remains that the victim was working in an advertising company related to entertainment industry and it cannot be believed that she had never consumed alcohol", it says. His relationship with her was consensual, it adds.

The application also says the allegation he made a video clip of the victim and threatened to make it public is false as he is a reputed singer and a music director.

The complainant, allegedly Tiwari's one-time girlfriend, has alleged that he raped her repeatedly between October 2012 and December 2013 after promising to marry her but did not keep the promise. Tiwari's brother Ankur was also arrested for allegedly threatening the woman.

The singer was booked by the police under sections 376 (rape), 493 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage) and 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code. The 24-year-old singer is known for the hit song `Sun Raha Hai Na' from the film "Aashiqui 2".

Last week, the court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him for non-appearance. The court today stayed the NBW but said Tiwari must remain present the next time.

PTI