TV Actor Ashish Kapoor Remanded in 14-Day Judicial Custody in Rape Case

Television actor Ashish Kapoor, arrested last week in Pune for the alleged gangrape of a 24-year-old woman, was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Sunday.

Investigators told the court they are still searching for the complainant’s missing mobile phone — allegedly used to film the assault — and other devices belonging to the accused.

The case
The woman, a Gurugram-based professional, alleged she was assaulted at a house party in Delhi’s Civil Lines on August 10. She claimed Kapoor and a friend forced her into a washroom, raped her, and recorded the act on her phone. She further alleged that a woman at the party hit her and that Kapoor later threatened to leak the video.

An FIR under charges of gangrape and assault was registered the next day, naming Kapoor as the “primary perpetrator.”

Arrest after weeks on the run
Police said the 40-year-old actor evaded arrest for nearly three weeks, initially traced to Goa before being caught at a friend’s home in Pune last Tuesday. He has since undergone a medical potency test at AIIMS, with results awaited.

Missing phone, video
Investigators said the complainant’s phone, allegedly used to record the assault, remains untraced. “As per technical analysis, the phone was last active in the Civil Lines area where the party took place,” one officer said. Searches at Kapoor’s residence and his family’s restaurant yielded nothing, and police have yet to check possible hideouts in Pune.

Revised allegations
While the initial FIR named Kapoor, his friend, the friend’s wife and two others, the complainant later revised her statement, narrowing the charge to rape by Kapoor alone. She retracted her earlier allegations against the others, though she maintained that a woman at the party assaulted her during a scuffle.

Actor’s background
Kapoor has appeared in several TV shows, including Saraswatichandra, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Molkki Rishton Ki Agnipariksha, Chand Chupa Badal Mein, and Dekha Ek Khwaab.