Mumbai: Former model Preeti Jain finds the conspiracy to kill filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar filmi (like a film script). The sessions court on Friday sentenced Ms. Jain to three years in jail after finding her guilty of plotting to kill Mr. Bhandarkar in 2005, whom she had accused of rape a year earlier. She was also fined ₹10,000. Her request for bail was subsequently granted, and her sentence was suspended for four weeks.
Speaking to The Hindu , Ms. Jain said, “It sounds like a very filmi , make-believe plot to me; it sounds really fantastic.” Her conviction, she said, was not a deterrent for her, as she had gone through the entire evidence.
She further said the conspiracy did not fit in with her core beliefs. “The theory of killing him is totally against my mindset. I believe god has given birth and god will take life away. I have no say in it and can’t. I am a Jain. I haven’t even killed an ant, because I believe it is bad karma. How can I kill a man? I have no right to do that legally, spiritually and ethically.”
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On completion of bail formalities, Ms. Jain, who was dressed in a red kurta and a golden churidar, said, “I trust god and myself.” She waved to the crowd outside the City Civil and Sessions Court and said, “I am happy. I have full faith in the judiciary.”
On the conspiracy, she said, “There are 51 witnesses, not a single person has seen me with the co-conspirator, and the investigating officer has said my bank statement was Rs. 550 at the time. How is it possible that I gave Rs. 75,000 as supari (blood money) to people I have never met. Two people have beenacquitted and two others have been convicted along with me. But no has one seen me with them. Mumbai is a city where you can’t do anything in secrecy.”
Going back in time, she said she has always wanted to associate herself with the world of glamour. “I have hosted events for a very long time. I have my own company on paper, but haven’t produced anything yet. I have a script for a Hindi feature film ready, but we haven’t started production.”
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She said she met Mr. Bhandarkar in 1999 “when he and I were strugglers”. Therefore, she added with a laugh, neither of them could be in awe of each other. “But people came to know about us at a point when I was still unknown and he wasn’t. So what goes out to the world is that I was expecting something from him. He had also met my parents. I had filed a rape case against him and with my consent, it was quashed by the Supreme Court.”
Ms. Jain said she would move the Bombay High Court, where she had “a fair chance”. “That is why we have different courts. Now I have two courts before me, so it is not the end of the world.”