Mumbai: A 34-year-old woman from Thane, aspiring to be an actress, has filed an FIR against businessman Shyam Sunder Bhartia and three others, accusing them of multiple instances of rape, criminal intimidation, and violations under the Atrocities Act, according to a report from the Free Press Journal (FPJ).
The FIR was registered on February 22 against Bhartia, Pooja Kawaljeet Singh, her husband Kawaljeet Singh, and their daughter Mallika Kawaljeet Singh, as per the FPJ report. The accused have also been charged under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, for allegedly making casteist remarks against the victim, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste.
According to the FIR, the complainant had been trying to break into the film industry when she met producer Hashim Khan in 2022. Khan later introduced her to Pooja Kawaljeet Singh, who claimed to have strong Bollywood connections. Following Khan’s death in 2023, the woman reached out to Pooja, who allegedly assured her of assistance in securing a break in the industry.
On this promise, Pooja introduced her to Shyam Sunder Bhartia on May 2, 2023. Their first meeting took place at the Taj Hotel near Santacruz airport, where Bhartia reportedly assured her of support in achieving stardom. He later invited both her and Pooja to his bungalow in Singapore. On May 9, 2023, Bhartia sent his personal credit card details via WhatsApp, instructing her to book flight tickets for herself and Pooja for a trip scheduled from May 18 to May 24, 2023, which she did.
On May 19, 2023, the complainant and Pooja traveled to Singapore, where Bhartia picked them up from the airport and took them to his residence. As per the FIR, he engaged in casual conversation with them throughout the day. However, around 7 p.m., both Pooja and Bhartia began drinking. When the complainant declined to consume alcohol, Pooja allegedly pressured her, warning that Bhartia would become angry.
After consuming the drink, the complainant started feeling dizzy. She alleged that Bhartia then brutally raped and physically assaulted her. “Instead of stopping the assault, Pooja recorded the entire incident. She later blackmailed me, threatening to release the footage if I spoke about the incident,” the FIR states. On May 24, the complainant returned to Mumbai with Pooja.
Following this, Pooja allegedly continued to threaten her, insisting that such situations were common in the industry. On June 26, 2023, the complainant was reportedly blackmailed into meeting Bhartia at ITC Maratha Hotel near Sahar International Airport, where she was allegedly raped again.
“On October 14, 2023, I was called to Pooja’s home in Badrinath Towers, Versova, where Bhartia raped me again in her bedroom. Later the same day, he sexually assaulted me once more at Taj Lands End Hotel in Bandra. Similar incidents occurred multiple times at different locations,” the FIR states.
On January 11, 2025, while the complainant was at her Thane residence, Pooja allegedly called her multiple times and verbally abused her. Additionally, the complainant accused Pooja’s husband, Kawaljeet Singh, and their daughter, Mallika Singh, of threatening her and using caste-based slurs. They allegedly claimed that no police station would register a case against them.
After her attempts to file an FIR against Bhartia and the others were unsuccessful, the complainant filed a criminal writ petition on February 5, 2025, through her advocates Mohammed Ahmed Shaikh and Sofiya Shaikh, before the Bombay High Court, seeking directions for the Thane police to register her FIR against the accused. Since the victim resides in Thane, the court issued instructions to the Thane police to proceed with the case.
Subsequently, the Kapurbawdi police registered a case against the accused under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including charges of rape and criminal intimidation, as well as strict provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
