Indian filmmaker accused of raping actress

An Indian film producer was due to appear in court on Wednesday after his arrest for allegedly raping an aspiring actress whom he had promised a role in his next movie, police said.

Ramesh Singh, 49, was detained on Tuesday after the woman complained to police in Mumbai about the alleged sexual assault, according to a police official at Oshiwara police station in the city's north.

"He had promised her a role in his upcoming movie, so he called her to read out the script. He showed her the script and locked the room," said the policeman on condition of anonymity.

"He told her to sit on the bed as there was a 'bed scene' and that's when she got spooked. She ran into the bathroom and locked the door. He broke open the door and she said he then raped her."

The Indian Express said Singh was a Marathi-language film producer, as opposed to working in Hindi-speaking Bollywood which dominates the Mumbai movie industry.

Sexual crimes against Indian women have been in the spotlight over the past month, since a 23-year-old student was gang-raped and murdered on a bus in the capital New Delhi in a case that has shocked the nation.

The crime sparked nationwide protests expressing outrage over the worrying numbers of sexual assaults and calling for tougher laws to punish rapists.

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