SHIMLA: An all-women police station has begun a preliminary enquiry into allegations of sexual assault against veteran Bollywood actor Jeetendra by a woman who has complained to the police 47 years after the incident happened, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.
Director General of Police S R Mardi said a first information report was lodged about 10 days ago at the all-women police station in New Shimla after the woman filed a written complaint and forwarded a copy of him.
As per the complaint, the incident took place in January 1971, when the woman was 18 years old and Jeetendra was 28.
Jeetendra, whose real name is Ravi Kapoor, is the son of her father's sister.
The incident happened when the actor asked her to accompany him to Shimla where one of his films was being shot.
The woman has claimed that on the night they reached Shimla, Jeetendra came to the room where the duo had put up in an inebriated condition and sexually assaulted her.
The actor has denied the charges and said that the case has been filed because of a property dispute.
The alleged case of sexual assault, however, has attracted a lot of public attention and media play in view of the #MeToo campaign against the violence and harassment women face in daily life and to demand change.
The campaign began after an American actress posted a tweet urging women to speak up against their experiences with sexual assault or harassment in Hollywood using the phrase "Me Too.
Since then more women in some 85 different countries are using the hashtag to voice their indignation against such behaviour of some powerful men even in other sectors of society.