Mumbai: Forced and threatened, claim porn case victims

Statements given to the police by victims in the pornography racket busted in February this year have revealed how the women were lured with money amid the lockdown forced to perform obscene acts and threatened with police cases for violating the contract if they objected midday has accessed the details of statements recorded by two such womenThe two smalltime actresses were struggling to find work amid the lockdown Signing up for work with the accused led them to be forced into making pornographic content They were allegedly forced by accused Gehna Vasisth Rova Khan and Tanveer Khan into the work The trio sold the videos to Arvind Srivastava alias Yash Thakur and businessman Raj Kundra The videos were later uploaded on platforms such as Hot Hit Nuefliks and HotShotsHow they got workAccording to a 25yearold womanrsquos statement she used to play small roles in short films in Hindi Marathi and Bhojpuri In 2018 she got some work through a casting director named Raunak On February 4 they met in Malad where Rova also came and was introduced to the woman as the producer and director The woman was taken to Madh in Rovarsquos car and given a script named lsquoSingle Motherrsquo The woman was then taken to the makeup roomGehna Vasisth was one of the women arrested after the racket was busted File picAfter the woman was ready she was told she wouldnrsquot fit the role of a single mother as she was too thin and was given a script called lsquoBartanwalirsquo The woman read the script and refused to work She was told by Rova that she would have to do the work if she wants money and that the film would not be aired on any channel ldquoPeople have to pay to watch this film we have changed your name and look no one will be able to recognise yourdquo the woman was allegedly told by RovaThen Rova asked the woman to record a small video using the name lsquoShanayarsquo and saying ldquoHi my name is Shanaya I have done Bold series on Hot Hit Channel Download Like and Subscribe to Hot Hit Channel to see my look I donrsquot mind if this web series gets released anywhererdquoThe woman was about to get Rs 25000 but after recording the video she felt uncomfortable and refused to shoot She was convinced by the man who played the lead actor and Rovarsquos friend Pratibha She was told that she will gradually become comfortable and that she will be a big name Then the shoot beganAlso read Raj Kundra spent lakhs on advertising HotShots app Mumbai Crime BranchScolded for being shyAs per the script the woman was to be a lsquobartanwalirsquo utensil vendor and ring the male leadrsquos doorbell The man then took her inside his bedroom The woman became uncomfortable during shooting and was told by Rova ldquoYou didnrsquot have a boyfriend Why are you being so shy Are we asking you to have sexrdquo The woman resumed work and finished the scene after which she was told to undress completely for the next scene This scene she was told did not involve having intercourse But the woman did not want to be nude to which Rova responded with a threat ldquoNow all this has been done If you do not have to do the next thing then I will file a case against you for breaking the contract I will take the money spent on the shooting from you I see who gives you work in the filmrdquoOne of the arrested accused in Killa court on February 10 File picldquoAfter the threat I agreed to do the scene after practising intimate scenes a few times while being halfnaked In the middle of this women and men in plain clothes came into the room and said they are the police and the shooting stoppedrdquo the woman said in her statementSaw Instagram FB adThe second complainant a 20yearold has a similar work profile During the lockdown she was not getting any work and was running out of money On 10 January this year she saw an advertisement on Instagram and Facebook for an acting assignment in web series The ads had listed contact numbers The woman contacted the number and was contacted by someone named Naresh a few days later He told her to come for the shoot of a web series to be held in Madh She was offered R10000 daily Naresh picked the woman up near Malad station and took her to a house in Madh There she was told that the series belonged to Vasisth and was taken to the makeup roomThe woman was told that shersquod be playing a queen and that there would be a kind or raja and three others The story was apparently about a king and a queen Initially the shoot involved scenes shot in the garden outside the bungalow Then Vasisth took the woman inside the hall in the bungalow where the next scene was to be shotThe scene involved three people telling the woman that they had been waiting for her to turn 18 drag her into another room and take turns raping her During the process the woman objected to the scene but was threatened by Vasisth into workingAfter the scene the woman was dressing up in the makeup room when Vasisth visited her The woman again objected to the work to which Vasisth responded saying Rs 10 lakh had been spent on the web series and if she refused to work shersquod have to pay the damages Vasisth then took the woman back to the room for the next scene where she had to get perform intimate scenes with Akash who was playing the kingrsquos role When the woman was leaving Vasisth warned the woman to not reveal the details of the shoot to anyone The film was uploaded by Vasistha on Nuefliks The woman was paid Rs 10000 for the film The money was transferred to her fatherrsquos accountIn her statement to the police the woman said ldquoThe accused made me work in a porn film against my wishes When I refused to work they demanded R10 lakh as damages Then they defamed me by uploading the film on a websiterdquoOver 100 such filmsA Mumbai police officer told midday that the accused have made over 100 porn films in this way and uploaded them on platforms ldquoWhoever has been exploited in this manner can record their statement with us At present some victims are in touch with Mumbai police and their statements will be recordedrdquo