Businessman convicted for molesting former Bollywood actress on flight, gets 3 years in jail

Special judge AD Deo on Wednesday found Vikas Sachdev guilty of molesting a former Bollywood actress, then a minor, onboard an Air Vistara flight from Delhi to Mumbai in December 2017. 

The 41-year-old businessman was awarded 3 years of imprisonment in the Dindoshi sessions court under Section 354 (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code along with relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. However, the sentence was suspended for the man to approach the High Court. He has been granted bail.

As per reports, before the conviction, the prosecution had examined seven witnesses, including the actor who had also provided a detailed account of the incident on her social media channel. Vikas was then arrested and was later released on bail. However, recently the prosecution moved a plea to recall the former actress as a witness because she was not made to identify the accused before. 

Despite the court’s permission, the prosecution failed to bring the victim before the court. The victim, through her social media, had revealed that the co-passenger was sitting behind her and put his feet up on her armrest. 

"So, I was in a flight travelling from Delhi to Mumbai today and right behind me one middle-aged man who made my two-hour journey miserable. I tried to record it on phone to understand it better because the cabin lights were dimmed, I failed to get it...The lights were dimmed, so it was even worse. It continued for another five to ten minutes and then I was sure of it. He kept nudging my shoulder and continued to move his foot up and down my back and neck,” she said in the video post, following the incident.

To this, the accused said that the victim was possibly “hallucinating”. The victim last year announced her “disassociation” from the film industry.