A 28-year-old model, Apeernah, has been receiving death threats after Mumbai police refused to take action against 9 Bollywood celebrities accused of raping and molesting her.
As per reports, the model had filed a complaint at the Bandra police station and an FIR was registered on May 26. Accusing the police of inaction, she said that her perpetrators should be held responsible if anything unnatural was to happen to her before the case was concluded. She had named photographer Colston Julian, actor Jackky Bhagnani, Krishan Kumar (T-series), Nikhil Kamat, Sheel Gupta, Ajit Thakur, Gurjot Singh, Vishnu Induri and Anirban Blah (Kwan Entertainment) in the FIR. The woman has accused the men of ‘gang-stalking’ her using fake Instagram accounts.
“I have blocked hundreds of fake accounts and have reported some as they had rather explicit pics and wordings as well as triggering usernames like @bitchurdead887, @terimaak231__, or something like @bulletzngunzz. I told the investigating officer regarding the death threats being sent after I registered the FIR against these high-profile men. He suggested I visit the nearest police station to register a fresh case. But I am not willing to visit the police station again as it took me weeks to register the first FIR and none of the accused has been arrested till now,” the model informed Mid-Day.
The woman said that she had no enemies in the world other than the accused. She informed that accused Anirban Blah had earlier moved the Court to seek anticipatory bail but was rejected on July 5. “The police have not arrested him yet. I don’t know in what direction the investigation is going,” she lamented. Apeernah said that she was forced to delete her Facebook account and had to stop using Instagram for 2 years.
Mumbai Police claims to have been following legal procedures
In their defence, the police claimed to have opposed the anticipatory bail of accused Anirban Blah in Court. Assistant Police Inspector (Bandra) Sagar Nikam said, “Anirban Blah’s bail was rejected only because the police objected to the application of the accused. We have been following all the legal procedures before nailing the accused. Also, Blah is not in Mumbai. He is somewhere in Hyderabad. We have sent him a notice through email. So far, we have recorded the statements of five accused in the case.”
According to Sagar Nikam, the Bandra police team visited all the crime spots mentioned by Apeernah. Requesting the victim to cooperate with the cops, he said that the CCTV footage have been recovered from a few of the locations. He added that statement of 20 individuals has also been recorded. On being quizzed about death threats, Nikam claimed, “I have told her to approach the nearest police station to register a fresh FIR.”
A Bandra police official said that police teams were not being sent to other States over fears of contracting Covid-19. “If the offence is fresh and heinous, we send our officers immediately to arrest accused hiding in other states. But this case is different as the offence took place a long time ago. So, our officers have been collecting all the electronic evidence and recording statements of people connected with it,” he said.
The Background of the Case
In an Instagram post on April 12, Apernah revealed how she was she was physically and emotionally abused by Julian Colston during a work assignment. She narrated, “(Colston said) You have a lot of potential! You’d do great in Indian market and even better internationally like New York and Miami .. because you have boobs .. not London they prefer stick figures. I prefer your body type and you have the face as well and a charming personality, most models I meet are like dead .. let me shoot some pictures of you and put them in some magazines .. and I can even see you doing the kind of commercial work I do”
She further added how the photographer manipulated her into believing that he can make her a model. “.. but you’re too nice models are supposed to be fake and pushy (LIKE I AM ) and you live too far away .. let me work on you! I’m sure you’ll be a big hit here! ..f*ck your agency I can make you a model .. come over let’s watch a movie and talk about this, don’t worry I see enough naked women around I won’t touch you, be comfortable…”
Apeernah emphasised that Julian Colston had sexually assaulted multiple women in a similar fashion but everyone is scared to speak out against him. “Forget the physical assault what about the mental and psychological trauma that he has caused over the years? Mother f*cker blocked me a long time ago and has never posted any of my pics let alone put them in any magazine so I thought maybe it’s time to appreciate his “boobs” and whatever all that is,” she pointed out.
The 28-year-old model concluded, “I had to stop attending fashion events and parties…because he’d approach, harass, and tell me to not talk to this guy, that guy… I can’t believe at some point I had respect for him. Now I could watch him get run over by a truck and not feel bad because that’s what he deserves. I have all the proof and messages and emails. It’s a little late for me but I am trying to protect the next girl.” She had shared pictures where Julian Colston could be seen naked in her room.
